Gordon Strachan insists Celtic's 2-1 victory over Dundee United proves his side still believe they can lift the SPL title this season.

Celtic returned to the top of the pile on Tuesday night after surrendering their place at the summit to arch rivals Rangers at the weekend after going down to a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox in the final Old Firm game of the season.

Despite a late scare Celtic responded well as Glenn Loovens headed them into the lead on 21 minutes before Georgios Samaras doubled their advantage early in the second half with a deflected shot off Lee Wilkie.

United applied heavy pressure after David Robertson's close-range strike on 57 minutes but Celtic held firm and are now a point clear of Rangers who visit Hibernian on Wednesday night.

"The performance in the first hour showed that our guys are in good spirits and feel good about themselves," said Strachan.

"Over the last two seasons we've been 2-0 up against them a couple of times and they've come back to 2-2.

"Tonight, because of a great cross by them and some horrendous defending by us they came back to 2-1, and I think everybody in here panicked for a while."

Meanwhile, Aberdeen's chances of qualifying for Europe were dealt a blow as they failed to convert their chances in a 0-0 home draw with Hearts.