Craig Sibbald says Dundee United ‘need to remain confident’ in race for Europe

Dundee United midfielder Craig Sibbald insists confidence remains high despite a losing run putting European qualification under threat.

United sealed a top-six place in the William Hill Premiership with the help of a hat-trick of wins immediately before the split.

But they have since lost three in a row and Saturday’s home defeat by St Mirren allowed the sixth-placed Buddies to move two points behind with two games left.

St Mirren have taken ten points from 12 games to pile on the pressure and United might need a result at Ibrox on Wednesday to keep European qualification in their own hands before the final day.

Sibbald said: “The boys are all confident. We’ve had a wee blip recently, but every game’s tough in the top six and we’ve been doing really well up until that.

“All in all, I think we’ve had a really good season and we can be proud of where we are now – not many teams who have been promoted from the Championship have made into the top six straight away.

“Unfortunately, we’ve not had a good start to the top-six games, but who’s to say we can’t finish on a high and get maximum points out of the next two games?

“We just need to remain confident and keep believing that we can get something. It’s down to us now and we want to finish the season on a high.

“We were disappointed with the result (on Saturday), but it’s in our hands and we’re sitting in a good position in the table.

“So we just need to learn from our mistakes and try and cut them out them at Ibrox on Wednesday to make sure we can try and get three points.”