Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara has ordered his side to forget about their recent win over Celtic and focus instead on beating St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

The Tangerines defeated the champions 2-1 at Tannadice last weekend to keep them in second spot in the Premiership, above rivals Aberdeen, thanks to goals from Nadir Ciftci and Stuart Armstrong.

It was the perfect morale boost to set the Tayside club up for a hectic festive period which also sees them host city neighbours Dundee on New Year's Day.

But before that they head to Perth, where they will take on Saints, with McNamara insisting they must not bask in the glory of their Celtic victory.

"It's about moving on," McNamara said. "As far as I'm concerned, the Celtic game is finished. It was a great result for everyone connected with the club, (but) it's over and done with.

"Now we turn our attention to the St Johnstone game this weekend. And then it's the Dundee game next week.

"There's no use in beating Celtic and then getting beat by Saints this weekend. That's the bottom line.

"We've put ourselves in a great position. And we need to show the same commitment and desire in every game.

"If we do, it will stand us in good stead, which will hopefully be the case."

McNamara got the better of Ronny Deila's Celtic after going down 6-1 at Parkhead earlier in the season, and believes it showed the character within their ranks, having lost to New Firm rivals Aberdeen 2-0 in their previous outing.

He said: "Of course, it was special for me because Celtic is a former club.

"But it was also special because we've had a bit of criticism in games we've played against them since I came here.

"People have said we've been too open because we had taken a battering down there at the start of the season and last year when we should have beaten them at Celtic Park but lost a late equaliser.

"Heavy defeats against them, because it is your old club, you do think about, and things like that mean it was nice on Sunday.

"It's a busy spell for us, like it is all clubs, but we're just taking one game at a time and will see where it takes us."

United hope winger Gary Mackay-Steven can shake off a flu bug which forced him to miss the Celtic game so that he can face Saints.

Midfielder Paul Paton will serve the second match of his three-match ban, while striker Mario Bilate is still recovering from a hamstring injury.