TAM COURTS reckons Dundee United were denied a deserved draw as Rangers left it late to clinch all three points at Ibrox.

The United boss was without a handful of his first team squad due to a Covid outbreak at Tannadice that left Courts' ranks depleted.

But the visitors held their own for large swathes of the afternoon as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side toiled to a narrow victory.

A late James Tavernier penalty - after his cross struck the arm of Scott McMann - was enough to see the champions extend their lead at the top of the table.

But Courts was proud of the effort from his side as a youthful line-up - including Archie Meekison and debutant Craig Moore - gave an impressive account of themselves and pushed Rangers during a tight encounter.

Courts said: "It was a game that unfolded the way we wanted it to.

"We had a massively disrupted week but thankfully we were able to do some work on the training pitch which you seen with the game plan.

"I thought the young lads were excellent, really brave and I thought they stood up to the task of Rangers really well but probably a special mention has to go to the senior players who led from the front and gave the boys all the confidence to play on this type of platform.

"I think we came out of today with a bit of credibility in terms of the performance and given a bit of insight into the youth we will hopefully see in the future.

"I think we probably did [deserve a draw]. In the first half, there wasn't much in it, Rangers had the bulk of possession but we probably had the best of the half chances.

"But in the second half when we hit the bar at the end I actually thought a draw would have been just rewards."