From being the timid, disappointing side who struggled to handle the hype at the start of the season, Dundee United have kick-started their campaign in some style now.

United may have only won this by a single goal but they had more than enough purpose about them to have won by a few more and they certainly look the best equipped of the “others” in the SPL to enjoy a decent season.

In Willo Flood and Craig Conway they have two of the most driven and influential midfield players in the league outside the Old Firm and the pair were the catalyst to an exciting United performance which combined flair with effective attacking football. Up front, Jon Daly netted the opener for the home side and is finally starting to look like a decent player nearly two years after his arrival from Hartlepool United after a couple of miserable injury-affected terms.

And Daly certainly believes United are good enough to finish in third place. “I’m now starting to get a run of games,” he said. “I knew I could get back to playing well and I knew I could do well in this league. The main thing is the team is starting to pick up wins now and maybe we are starting to get the rub of the green now too, which perhaps we weren’t getting at the start of the season. We believe we can finish in third place. We are certainly fighting for that and the aim is to push on from last season, which was a good one for us.”

United’s tally was added to by a Lee Wilkie header before he netted an own goal in injury time which gave United an unnecessary sweat in the final moments.

And Craig Levein, the United manager, reckons his players have learnt from a disappointing result last season. “We lost the corresponding fixture last year where Inverness beat us on the counter-attack,” he said, “but we have learnt from that and we deserved to win. All credit to my players and we will grow in confidence from this. We’re chuffed to bits.”

Caley Thistle were many pundits’ tips to go down this season, but they have had an encouraging start to the campaign, have more than their fair share of good players and enjoy a good team spirit. And, as Craig Brewster, the manager, pointed out after the match, they almost held their own against United.

“I have just said to the players that we have got to take positives out of that because United are a very good side and we matched them apart from a 20-minute spell at the start of the second half,” he said. “I don’t think we have created as many chances as that in a game all season. On the whole, it was an excellent match and very open.”

Dundee United (4-4-2): L Zaluska 7 – S Dillon 7, L Wilkie 7, D Dods 6, P Dixon 7 – S Roberston 6, C Conway 8 (sub: D Swanson, 77min 2), M Gomis 6, W Flood 8 – F Sandaza 6 (sub: R O’Donovan, 58 5), J Daly 7. Substitutes not used: M McGovern, D Grainger, G Kenneth, P Buaben, D Goodwille. Booked: Flood.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle (4-5-1): M Fraser 8 – R Tokely 6, G Munro 6, J Duff 7, R Hastings 6 – D Cowie 5, R McBain 6, I Black 7 (sub: B Wilson, 46 7), I Vigurs 5, D Imrie 6 – A Barrowman 6 (sub: G Wood, 85). Substitutes not used: R Esson, L Djebi-Zadi, P McGuire, D Gillespie. Booked: Wilson, Munro.