MIXU PAATELAINEN last night insisted his Dundee United troops are now tactically aware – and claims they were clueless in that department prior to his arrival.

Paatelainen replaced departed boss Jackie McNamara back in mid-October with the toiling Tangerines propping up the league table after a series of dire domestic results.

United still find themselves bottom-dogs and staring relegation in the face in the wake of last weekend's 2-1 defeat by Hamilton at Tannadice which piled more misery on them.

But the former Hibs, Kilmarnock and Finland manager believes they've at least developed a system of tactics in his short time at the helm - compared to before - in their brave bid to climb clear of the dreaded drop zone.

Paatelainen said: “We want to install tactics into this side that were never there, never existed.

“Now we have some kind of backbone, how to go about things both offensively and defensively.

“That is what we’ve created and that is what we intend to carry on.

“Yes, we will change things and tweak things. It won’t be the same all the time. That’s development.

“When we started about six weeks ago, I thought our game was in a really, really poor state, the whole game, defensively and offensively.

‘Now we are much better off.”

United sit seven points adrift of second-bottom Motherwell in the Premiership with Paatelainen well aware of the obvious threat of going down should results fail to pick up drastically.

But the Finn is sure they're making progress despite having chalked up just one win since arriving, and is refusing to hit the panic button.

He added: “We’re not stupid or blind - we know how serious the situation is.

“Do you want me to say we are all in a panic? I wonder if I should say that we can’t sleep at night and that every player is so nervous. Is that the answer you want?

“I can only say how we feel and what the situation is. When I say we realise how serious it is and if it continues we’ll get relegated.

“But we also realise how much we’ve progressed and believe we can turn things around.

“It won’t be easy and there will be set-backs.

“We realise what we do wrong and what we do well.

“We haven’t done anything worse than when we started. Every aspect of our game has improved so things are looking positive.

“But we are still in trouble and we will be in trouble in a few weeks because we are a little bit adrift but it’s amazing how things can change.

“The players are showing so much determination in the way they speak, train and play in the last two matches.

“You wouldn’t think we were bottom of the league the way we played.”

Paatelainen has revealed on-loan Partick Thistle forward Robbie Muirhead will return in the New Year, but has resisted the temptation to take the former Kilmarnock hitman back early.

He said: “Robbie Muirhead will come back. I considered bringing him back sooner but decided against it.

“He is at Firhill on loan. He had a little injury but is now back playing, scored two goals, and we’re delighted he is doing well.

“Partick Thistle were down where we are not too long ago.

“They’ve lifted themselves from the relegation places and we can do the same.

“He’s done a good job for them and I’m looking forward to working with him in January.

“If all parties agreed then there might have been a possibility to bring him back.

“I’ve had conversations with other people and decided against it.

“Let’s not forget there was a period of a few weeks where he didn’t play at all.

“He was on the bench and had an injury but now he’s scored two goals of course it’s highlighted we have a player there on loan who is scoring goals.

“But there was a right good few weeks where he wasn’t playing at all.

“My initial thought when I heard he’s scored on Saturday was ‘Well done Robbie’.

“We get him back on January 4.

“I know what he’s able to do. He’s a technically gifted player, a strong player. It’s no surprise to see him doing well.”

Meanwhile, United have been boosted with news that long-term crocks Callum Morris and Chris Erskine are approaching a first-team return.