WITH more than 130 goals in over 200 starts gilding his impressive career, you might imagine moments of self-doubt in front of goal are rare for Lawrence Shankland.

Witnessing Saturday’s first half performance in Dingwall, though, it was hard to escape the impression he was a man grappling with inner demons.

With every slack touch or misplaced chance, the body language of the man who hit 29 last season for the Tannadice club seemed to grow increasingly desperate as he beat himself up.

Unfortunately for County and mercifully for his team, he re-emerged for the second half in a different frame of mind.

Shankland’s 63rd minute opener was a chip off the old block in terms of typical penalty box prowess and paved the way for a crucial victory before Ryan Edwards’ killer second.

The win ended an eight-game run without victory for United stretching back to just before Christmas, leaving a recently-revived Ross County still four points above bottom-placed Hamilton, who hold three games in hand approaching today’s clash with Rangers.

As for Shankland’s mid-match transformation , United manager Micky Mellon, admitting the win in the Highlands was “massive”, said: “Shanks had chances in the first half.

“I said to him at half-time what does a good player do, Lawrence?

“He doesn’t get disappointed, he moves on and believes at some stage he will get there’ because he is a good player.  

“He knew he shouldn’t dwell on the earlier chances and these are lessons the boys are learning.  

“They are coming out of the Championship and people forget that.

“When the learning opportunities come then we have to learn from it and that was a big step forward for us.”

Mellon insists even through the eight match run without a win his eye was always on the long-term prize.

He added: “It was a massive result but it doesn’t stop I believe where we are at.  

“I won’t change what I believe my job is here and that's to keep moving forward and developing my team into Premiership players and that is what I will continue to do.”

For County, comeback heroes at Hamilton in midweek, it was a reminder of the hard work to be done.

United took the game energetically to the hosts in the first 20 minutes. A glaring error by on-loan Celtic kid Leo Hjelde might easily have cost them a goal.

His air swipe had Shankland racing through, but home keeper Ross Laidlaw managed to close down the out-of-sorts striker who dragged the ball too far past him for a goal kick.

Laidlaw was also out sharply to block at Shankland’s feet after 19 minutes as United continued to hold slightly the greater menace.

In a fast and furious start to the second half, County were warming to the task with Harry Paton’s determined running ending with Billy Mckay, to the left of the box, driving low into the arms of Benjamin Siegrist after 55 minutes.

But three minutes after the hour, the hosts were negligent in keeping the back door shut as pressured United hit on the break.

United swept forward at pace on the counter-attack with Jeando Fuchs feeding Liam Smith out wide right.

Smith angled a low ball towards the penalty spot and the previously ineffective Shankland, cutting across his back-tracking markers took one touch and then calmly slotted low past Laidlaw from 12 yards.

Home manager Hughes reacted with a triple substitution soon after with Michael Gardyne, Oli Shaw and Charlie Lakin replacing Harry Paton, Jermaine Hylton and Billy Mckay.

But United grabbed a vital second after 76 minutes.

From Peter Pawlett’s swirling corner from the right, Ryan Edwards wriggled free and turned a solid header past Laidlaw from eight yards.

A disappointed John Hughes is praying the weather gods give Ross County a break so he can work on the costly deficiencies that came back to bite them.

Hughes said: “I’m trying to analyse it. I felt United probably had the better first half chances.

“A couple got played through and they had a late runner.

“Apart from that, we hung in there - and it was probably even-stevens in the first half apart from that.

“In the second half, we started really brightly and I thought ‘here we go’.

“It was everything we were asking, and then we shoot ourselves in the foot with the soft goal on the counter-attack and then another from a set piece.

“What I’m hoping now is the weather picks up and we can get on that full-size pitch and get good work done going into the Hibs game.”