Source: Team_Talk
Gers chief salutes his grafters
The champions romped to a 3-0 win in their rearranged fixture at Tannadice to move a point clear of arch-rivals Celtic.[LNB]Smith's men were expected to face one of their toughest tests of the season tonight but United simply failed to perform, casting serious doubt on claims they could push the Old Firm all the way in the title race.[LNB]DaMarcus Beasley scored his first goal since the 2008 Scottish Cup final to hand the visitors a half-time lead before a Kenny Miller double had the champions home and dry with 15 minutes remaining.[LNB]Smith said: "You always want to be at the top of the league.[LNB]"We start out every season hoping to be there but you've always got to be prepared for times when that doesn't happen.[LNB]"We are delighted to be there, considering the the way the fixtures have panned out.[LNB]"At the end of each of the quarters we play, we face the teams who are currently at the top of the league."[LNB]Smith hailed the performance of midfielder Beasley, who recently revealed he may need to quit Ibrox if he is to play enough first-team football to get in the United States' World Cup squad.[LNB]Smith said: "He's been terrific.[LNB]"But the whole team are probably working harder now than they have done at any stage of the season.[LNB]"They've been doing really well in terms of that, not just in overall play - which has been good in recent matches - but their determination to work.[LNB]"That's been a big factor."[LNB]He added: "I feel as though we are getting a little bit of momentum going.[LNB]"We're probably playing in a brighter fashion than we have done at any time this season."[LNB]The half-time abandonment of last month's original fixture due to a waterlogged pitch led to a war of words between Ibrox chief executive Martin Bain and United chairman Stephen Thomson over the latter's decision to charge fans for the rearranged game.[LNB]As a result, Rangers supporters took up only around a quarter of their 5,600 ticket allocation for the match, with many choosing to boycott it, although there were reports tonight of hundreds trying to gain entry before kick-off.[LNB]Smith said: "Our performance was the thing that kept Dundee United quiet more than anything else.[LNB]"But we always get great backing from our away support anyway, regardless of numbers."[LNB]United boss Craig Levein was at a loss to explain how his side slumped to their first defeat in nine matches in such limp fashion.[LNB]He said: "We just didn't didn't start and then fell away. And then things got worse from there."[LNB]Levein, whose team beat Celtic for the first time in 10 years last month, added: "The expectation on this game, I don't know if it was any different from the Celtic game two or three weeks back.[LNB]"I just think there were too many players who didn't do the jobs that they normally do very well; they just underperformed.[LNB]"I can't, in all honesty, say we had a foothold in the game at any point where I felt we really had Rangers pinned back.[LNB]"So, we've got a lot to look at with regard to the performance from my own team.[LNB]"But, at the same time, we've also got to recognise that Rangers did play very well."[LNB]Tuesday night's defeat leaves United fourth, but they are now seven points behind Rangers.[LNB]Levein added: "We'll keep plugging away and the best thing we can learn from this game is that at every point in this season, we can't afford to take our foot off the gas, whatever the game is."[LNB][LNB]
