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Lawrence Shankland scored his third hat trick of the season in United's win

Lawrence Shankland scored a hat trick as a ruthless Dundee United beat Partick Thistle to move 17 points clear in the Scottish Championship.

Shankland, who had failed to net in two games, headed United in front after 39 minutes and Adrian Sporle doubled the lead before the break.

The striker then netted twice after the break to take his season's tally to 24.

Veteran striker Kenny Miller netted late on for Thistle, but that could not prevent them slipping to ninth.

Ian McCall will perhaps feel aggrieved at the outcome, given that his side arguably had the better of it before Shankland's opener.

However, the victory was a 11th in 12 games for United, who took advantage of call offs elsewhere to move further ahead.

Shankland scored a perfect hat trick - adding a finish with each foot to his first-half glancing header - and youngster Declan Glass also caught the eye for Robbie Neilson's side.

One disappointing note was the loss of Nicky Clark to injury, the striker being helped off with 13 minutes remaining with a leg problem.

Dundee United head coach Robbie Neilson: "I thought the first 25 minutes, we weren't really in the game. Once we got a wee bit of composure, passed it, and got Dylan Powers on the ball we took control.

"We're delighted for Lawrence but today was a wee bit marred by the injury to Nicky Clark. He'll get x-rayed tonight and we'll hope it's not too bad."

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall: "For the first half hour, that was the best we've played. We picked a really attacking team and thought we could get at them down the wing, and we did.

"We certainly should've been a goal ahead, maybe two goals ahead. They coasted the second half, we didn't play well at all in the second half."