St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas is bracing himself for the visit of a Dundee United side soaring with confidence after their win over Rangers.

United stunned Ally McCoist's men when they dumped them from the William Hill Scottish Cup last weekend thanks a convincing 2-0 win at Ibrox.

And Lomas believes the display in Glasgow acts as a warning as to just how difficult a task his own side face in Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash.

He said: "We are looking forward to it, it's going to be a tough game.

"United got a great result at Rangers so we know they are going to be tough opposition.

"They've got some good players so we are going to have to produce similar to the second half performance we put in against Hearts last week over the course of 90 minutes.

"Hopefully we can get something. We are fully focused on this game.

"We know they are going to be buoyant after a great performance against Rangers and we are going to have to combat that."

The previous two meetings between the clubs this season have ended in draws and Lomas predicts another close encounter.

He said: "I think it will be a tight affair. Dundee United are probably one of the better teams we have watched this season.

"I've seen them a couple of times and they are very well-organised and have a good work ethic about them."

Saints are still sweating over the fitness of Murray Davidson ahead of the meeting at McDiarmid Park after he was forced out of last week's cup tie against Hearts with an ankle injury.

Lomas said: "He's 50-50 at the moment. Murray has been brilliant since I've been here so we will have a look at him tomorrow."

Saints' impressive form this season means they head into the weekend action in joint fourth position with Hearts but Lomas refused to set any targets.

He said: "We are not getting ahead of ourselves. We've got a tough week coming up starting with this game against Dundee United.

"Then we've got the cup replay on Tuesday and Aberdeen the following Sunday so it's a tough little period for us."