Mixu Paatelainen believes Dundee United's thumping 5-1 win over Kilmarnock shows that his side can "beat them all."

The Terrors grabbed a much-needed three points to close the gap at the foot of the Scottish Premiership table, putting five past Gary Locke's visitors to Tannadice.

The gap between 12th and 11th place now stands at 11 points and Paatalainen is adamant that his team can pull off an unlikely escape.

The Finn said: "I thought we played with very good intensity, the work-rate was unbelievable and we scored goals - that made it easier for us.

"It is only one match but we believe we can get out of this situation. Maybe we're daft but we do. "We do have it in us to win matches and we showed that today."

United now take on bottom-six rivals Partick, Hamilton and Motherwell in their next three league fixtures, though they may be without Coll Donaldson, who suffered a broken nose, for a spell.

"We will keep fighting until it is over," said Paatelainen. "Now we turn our eyes to next week against Thistle. We know on our day we can beat them all."