Do Dundee United have the best midfield three in the Scottish Premiership? With a man called Zidane at the heart of it all?

That was the question being posed after Jim Goodwin's side stretched their unbeaten run to six games with a hard-earned 2-2 draw that prevented Celtic stretching their lead at the top of the table.

United have slipped to fifth thanks to city rivals Dundee's 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock, and Irishman Goodwin was left disappointed his side had failed to win at Celtic Park for the first time in 52 games stretching back to 1992.

But Goodwin, Celtic counterpart Martin O'Neill and the BBC pundits were full of praise for how they gave the reigning champions a fright and continue to impress.

The midfield trio of Zidane Iqbal, Lyall Cameron and Dylan Tait controlled the first half for United before the half-time introduction of wingers Jota and Haissem Hassan turned the game in Celtic's favour.

On BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound, chief sports writer Tom English asked "whether Dundee United have the best midfield three in Scotland right now".

Former United wing-back Allan Preston enthused: "[Zac] Sapsford on the goal trail again and the guys in the middle of the park are great," he said. "Iqbal in that first half especially was pulling the strings and Celtic couldn't get near him.

"Iqbal is like a watch battery. He keeps everything ticking. He sits off and just passes it from side to side. Very rarely gives the ball way. I was actually surprised when they took him off."

Goodwin hailed his side's "composure" and former United midfielder Scott Allan suggested Iraq international Iqbal - a former Manchester United youth signed from Utrecht - is "at the heart of that", along with Tait and on-loan Rangers man Cameron.

"They have three footballers in there all on the same wavelength," Allan said on Sportscene.

"When you're at Celtic Park, you have to have guys who can stay on the ball and what I like about them all is they are not in a hurry to move the ball.

"They are happy just to wait for the pressure to come and move it from one side to the other. They were really brave with great quality in that first half.

"They were just so fluid in the middle of the park. They are as good as anything in the league at this moment in time and it just comes down to that word - composure.

"Willing to stay on the ball, attract pressure, give each other the ball under pressure and that allows you, when teams come out, to spin it in behind because they have a bit of pace there."

It is not just United's midfield who are impressing but also their manager.

"It isn't as if it wasn't by design," Allan said. "Jim Goodwin went there with a gameplan and he definitely carried that out. Over the last six games they are unbeaten and they have been fantastic."

Allan pointed out that the introduction of Hassan and Jota changed the game to the extent that "Dundee United were in the trenches in the second half".

However, they held firm after Liam Scales' equaliser and former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner admitted that, although "the tempo was up, the energy was up, they still couldn't create too much".

"Dundee United deserved to get a point," Bonner said. "They are organised, they've got good players in every part of the team.

"Jim's got something going with that Dundee United team."

Goodwin was disappointed to miss out on the top six last season by one place, but he has noted that Jens Berthel Askou's success with Motherwell was a lightbulb moment that has led to a change in style this season.

It took a while for his new passing machine to find its gears, their present run of six unbeaten games having followed a mere single win in the previous seven.

Culminating in what he described as "a decent performance", former St Mirren and Aberdeen manager Goodwin concluded that "the month of October has been a good points return for us".

He added: "Of course there is an air of disappointment in the dressing room that we weren't able to hang on and take all three points.

"It would have been a historic victory had we done that, but credit to the opposition, their changes at half-time brought a real spark to their team. I can't have too many complaints about the end result.

"It is still early days, but it is something to build on after these 11 games being in a decent position in the league table and a relatively positive points return.

"To respond to the early goal shows great character and we had to dig deep in the last 20 minutes - Celtic are relentless."

O'Neill, who had Goodwin as a youth during his first spell as Celtic manager, waxed lyrical about "gentleman" Jim pre-match. It continued afterwards too.

"He is a very fine manager, there is no question of that," O'Neill said. "They are on a really good run at this minute and they come here with plenty of confidence as well.

"I think that they showed that in periods today and he's done a remarkable job."