Mixed emotions for Laurie Ellis after Dundee United prove ability

Caretaker manager Laurie Ellis admitted he had mixed emotions after guiding Dundee United to a 2-0 win over Dumbarton.

Ellis took temporary charge at Tannadice earlier this week following the departure of Ray McKinnon, but secured a straightforward three points in his first game in charge.

Sam Stanton scored a first-half double before Craig Barr was sent off for Dumbarton, with the victory seeing United close the gap on Ladbrokes Championship leaders St Mirren.

However despite the victory, Ellis admitted it was a bitter-sweet moment.

''It's mixed emotions for me because that team has been capable of that for weeks,'' he told Arabzone TV.

''We've played well today and got a couple of cracking goals, so I'm absolutely delighted about that and it's a great three points.''

He added that he was unsure whether he would still be in charge next week, with the club revealing they are due to start interviewing candidates after receiving more than 50 applications for the manager's role.

''I've absolutely no idea what next week will bring,'' he said. ''What we do know is that we will take stock of how the game has gone and injuries and get back to training on Monday morning.''

The lead was closed at the top after Morton held St Mirren to a 2-2 draw in the Renfrewshire derby, with all four goals coming in 13 second-half minutes.

Ian McShane scored a penalty before Andy Murdoch equalised, and Gavin Reilly restored the lead for Jack Ross' side only for Gary Harkins to grab the equaliser from another spot-kick.

Ross was left frustrated after a number of decisions went against his side, including a late booking for Reilly for diving inside the area.

He told stmirren.com: ''I don't think he (referee Steven McLean) was at his best today.

Their penalty is fairly soft. The most frustrating one is Gav Reilly towards the end of the game, because that's a penalty kick there's no doubt about it.

That's a big call to get wrong.''

Livingston moved to two points off the top of the table but survived a scare in a 3-2 win over bottom club Brechin.

Jack McMillan and Jordan Sinclair scored a goal apiece early on, before Craig Halkett and Dylan Mackin looked to have secured a comfortable win only for Kalvin Orsi to make things interesting with a late penalty.

Dunfermline missed the chance to go level on points with St Mirren, however, and dropped down to third in the table after Connor Bell's first-half effort proved enough to earn Inverness a second win on the bounce.

Queen of the South held off a late fightback from Falkirk to win 4-2 at Palmerston Park.

Stephen Dobbie scored first before Lyndon Dykes and Darren Brownlie opened up a three-goal lead, only for Joe McKee and Jordan McGhee to strike back in the final five minutes before Lyle Taylor wrapped up the win.''