This was an undoubted improvement on Celtic’s inept showing against Falkirk a fortnight previously yet the end result was actually worse than the point they accrued that day.

This defeat to Dundee United, after leading the match with just seven minutes remaining, must have been sore to take, especially given the nature of the goals Celtic conceded.

Craig Levein’s response to falling behind to Barry Robson’s penalty was to throw on Jon Daly for his first appearance since April and see if Celtic could cope with that extra physical presence at set pieces. They couldn’t.

Mowbray felt United’s win was ill-deserved and admitted losing goals in such a fashion made the loss harder to take.

“I don’t think we got what we deserved from the game,” he lamented. “But if you do not defend set plays well enough at the death, then goals are what the game is all about. Generally, though, for 83 minutes, I thought it was one-way traffic and we 
dominated the match.

“They have huge, physical boys at set plays and that is why we changed from marking man-for-man. They hit the bar with one, but, generally, it wasn’t a problem for us, but we then lost two late ones and that is sore to take.

“No coach in the world likes to lose set plays. We work a lot on them and that’s why we changed. It’s a disappointment, yes. In theory, it works. In practice, it didn’t.”

Despite the result, Mowbray felt his team continues to move in the right direction and was not too interested in the league table at this juncture of the season.

“I judge my team on performance level and I felt that this one, looking at the bigger picture, shows me that with just a little bit of quality here and there, this team can go on and be successful for a long time,” he added.

“After 12 games, I’m not too interested in the league position. Of course we want to be top as that helps confidence, but we’re just trying to earn points at the moment.

“I felt there was a huge gulf in quality and class between the two teams, yet they scored from two set plays.”

Levein’s eyes twinkled when told of Mowbray’s remark. “I didn’t think we were that much better than them,” he said with a grin. “That’s doing Celtic an injustice.

“I didn’t think we played very well but how many saves did Nicky Weaver make in the first half? I’ve played against Celtic in the past where the keeper has had to make wonder saves and we have still been 3-0 down at half-time. Then, I would have said there was a gulf in class but not today.”

Levein would not comment on the vacant Scotland position, preferring to focus on his side’s battling qualities as they earned their first victory over Celtic at the 40th attempt. “I am really pleased,” he added. “It is a tough fixture. When you look at the calendar and see either of the Old Firm you know you are going to be in for a tough time.

The United support left Tannadice daring to dream of pushing the Old Firm all the way this season and Levein wasn’t going to rain on their parade. “I don’t want to dampen anybody’s enthusiasm but we have a group of players who are going along quite nicely and the last thing they need is a tug on the reins from me.”

Levein was especially pleased for Daly. “If there is such a thing as a footballing god then he is looking down fondly on Jon Daly today,” the United manager said. “He certainly hasn’t been looking down very fondly on him in the past. The only person who will be happier than me is Jon. He has been out for seven or eight months and played 30 minutes of football in that time. I think he was surprised he was on the bench and I had him on the bench because we needed cover in central defence. He is away home absolutely thrilled and so he should be.”

Dods was relieved his mistake for the goal hadn’t proved decisive. “It was dis­appointing to give away the penalty,” he said. “I’ve played against Barry Robson for years and I know all about his step overs but he done me this time. But the win over Celtic has been a long time coming.”