"I must give credit to (assistant) Liam Fox and the players who have been doing a lot of work on set-pieces, because in tight games like that and Premiership games we are going to need our set-pieces. It's a big part of modern football.

"I was delighted to see that going in and what a goal that was."

United dominated the first half but part-time Arbroath pushed hard after the break and United had to hold on with 10 men after Archie Meekison went off injured in the 75th minute.

"I knew it would be a really difficult game," Courts said. "Arbroath are probably the nemesis of most full-time teams because this is where they want to benchmark themselves against.

"The first 45 minutes is probably the best we have played in my time at the club.

"I thought we were really dominant in the first half, we had a clear style of play, we created chances and we scored a wonderful goal through Charlie Mulgrew."