John Rankin believes Dundee United can take inspiration from English Premier League side Spurs as they look to pick themselves up for the relegation run-in.

The Tannadice club go into the post-split fixtures this weekend off the back of their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian on penalties.

The United players were given two days off to recover from the heartbreaking Hampden clash, but Rankin returned to training on Tuesday ready to fire his side up again.

He says they have to look at the weekend's turn of events at the top of the Premier League and be driven by Spurs' determination to remain in the title race.

The London side beat Stoke 4-0 and cut the gap to five points after league leaders Leicester drew 2-2 with West Ham.

"I know it's a different level entirely but you look at Tottenham last night and the Leicester result the day before, how much of a boost that gave them," Rankin said.

"It was a joy to watch and it looked as if there was no pressure on them whatsoever. Albeit it's a different scale from us and a different scenario, they're at the top of the league and we're at the bottom.

"But we need to take inspiration from somewhere. You see the pressure that was on them last night, they had to go and get three points and mount a challenge.

"It's not something we wanted but we're relying on other teams at this moment in time and we need Inverness to do us a favour on Sunday."

Rankin also believes it's vital to lighten the mood in training this week, saying the players must enjoy the sessions in the run up to Sunday's meeting with Hamilton Accies.

"We have got characters in there and the characters are going to need to come through," he continued.

"We are going to have to go out there and run about like 16-year-olds, as if it doesn't matter. We are just going to need to go and have fun. That's the only way we can do it this week.

"We need to have fun for a couple of days, get the boys up for it, and be prepared for Sunday. That's the only way I can see us getting round this week because it's been a severe disappointment on Saturday."