Dundee United midfielder Blair Spittal believes his side have toughened up in recent months and can win a physical battle against St Johnstone this weekend.

United are fighting to avoid automatic relegation and face an opponent who has had the upper hand in meetings between the sides in recent years. Spittal accepted that he and his teammates had suffered at the beginning of the season from trying to play a style that allowed them to be dominated physically.

"It's a physical league and you need to be ready for it," he said. "At the start of the season it took us quite a lot of games to realise that it wasn't all about playing the football we wanted to play.

"It was all about rolling the sleeves up and getting into the battle, and then playing the football you want to play.

"That's what we realise now, it's sometimes about winning ugly. With the position we are in, we have to be able to do that."

Though they remain rooted to the bottom of the Premiership, United have shown appetite for the fight, coming back from 2-0 down to take a point in the Dundee derby last time out. Spittal said there was evidence of a change of attitude and that the players were capable of winning individual and collective battles.

"It's going to be a battle and we have got to overcome the battle before we earn the right to play," he said.

"We have shown in recent weeks we are ready for that. We are starting to take points and win games that we wouldn't have at the beginning of the season.

"You look at the games against Hearts and Ross County, they are physical teams as well and we overcame that physical battle to take the three points. We will certainly be ready for it.

"I think we have plenty of physicality in our team, whoever plays. Our players were branded soft touches earlier in the season but I don't think our players are branded that at all at the moment.

"I think we more than match our opponents with physicality, everything within the rules.

"We are aggressive and can also create chances and score goals.

"Recently we have scored a lot of goals."