Ryan Edwards has warned his Dundee United colleagues to be prepared for a tough test against a Hibernian side enjoying a new-manager bounce.

The Easter Road side travel to Tannadice on Boxing Day buoyed by a 1-0 win over Aberdeen in Shaun Maloney’s first game in charge on Wednesday.

United defender Edwards expects to face dangerous opposition as his own side bid to halt a four-game losing streak.

He said: “A new manager usually gets a good reaction. We’ve all been there and been part of it when a new manager and new voice comes in.

“Things change and you usually get a good reaction. They got that on Wednesday, so we know they will have their tails up.

“It will make Sunday’s game that bit harder with them out to try and impress their new manager, so we’ve got to make sure we’re at it.”

After a strong start to the season, United have lost six of their last eight games and are in danger of slipping into the bottom six if they lose again on Sunday.

Edwards is hoping they can get back on track against Hibs and ensure they remain in the top half going into the winter break.

He said: “I was looking at the league table after Wednesday night’s results and I can’t believe how tight it is.

“It’s frustrating for us because we think we should have had a good amount more points on the board.

“We kick ourselves a little bit from that point of view, but we can’t dwell on that too much because we’ve got a game on Sunday and if we do win that we’ll be sitting in the top six going into the new year.

“We’ll be getting bodies back from injury and illness and the transfer window will be open, so who knows what will happen there.”