It’s a familiar scene at this time of festive frivolity. A gathering of oddly attired men rambling incoherently? Why it could only be a football team’s Christmas day out. Either that, or another Rangers board meeting. No, it’s definitely the fitba day oot.

“Sam Stanton, Paul McMullan, Cammy Ballantyne and myself were all going as the Teletubbies and I was going to be the yellow one,” reported Dundee United’s Billy King of this slightly strange homage to those multi-coloured television characters who communicated in pre-school gibberish and were known as Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po. It sounds like a short list of candidates for the vacant hot seat at Ibrox.

The United players had travelled to Dublin on Saturday night for their get together in high spirits – and a quiet warning to behave from manager Csaba Laszlo – and their upbeat mood was justified after they cemented their place at the top of the Championship with a hard-earned win over plucky Morton at a chilly Cappielow.

It was King who took centre stage with a decisive double which gave the Tannadice men all three points and got something of a personal monkey off his own back.

“It’s been a bit frustrating for me not getting off the mark in the league,” said King of his hitherto barren spell. “I knew I was creating chances for myself but it just wasn’t happening. I’ve been playing well and I managed to finish the chances off this time.

“It’s a long time ago since I scored two in a game. I think it was against Falkirk when I was in the Championship with Hearts. I’d not scored this season in the league so it was about time I managed it.”

Jim Duffy’s Morton put up sturdy resistance and gave United one or two scares but the visitors dictated large spells of the game despite their tendency to try to walk the ball into the net, a trait which could yet come home to roost as the title battle heats up.

King is well aware of the fact that United have to show more of a clinical edge to go with their neat-and-tidy build up play and his opening goal on the hour, where he unleashed a searing drive into the bottom corner, spoke volumes for the more gung-ho approach of just hitting the ruddy thing.

“The gaffer said at half time that we were getting into good areas but just not striking it,” added King. “We were trying to over pass at times so that was on my mind when we came back out. If I got into the area I’d just have a shot and that’s what I managed to do.”

Laszlo’s philosophy is all about passing the ball about and building out from the back. At times on Saturday there were a few dicey moments and dodgy decisions not least from Jamie Robson, whose reckless pass back to his keeper was intercepted by Jai Quitongo only for the Morton man to poke the ball wide as Harry Ellis advanced from his goal.

“The manager is all about football,” said King. “Playing out from the back, passing, retaining the ball, making the other team work hard to get it back. He came in and said that was the best way for us to play.

“With Scott McDonald up front we can’t really play balls in behind or drop them into him because he is small. The best way is to pass it, that’s the manager’s style.

“The boys are improving all the time and you can see it’s working with three wins and a draw under him.”

On a decidedly parky day in Greenock, the official attendance was given as 2021. An exact headcount through the turnstiles or a mischievous dig at their Renfrewshire rivals up in Paisley after missing out on the UK City of Culture?

Those hardy souls shivering in the stands were given a keenly contested tussle to mull over and Morton acquitted themselves well.

“We lacked that cutting edge in the final third and that is what cost us,” said Morton defender, Ricki Lamie.