Whittaker happy to be put on the spot despite one miss

Steven WHITTAKER insists he would have no problem stepping up for more pressure spot-kicks in future - despite failing to claim a hat-trick from the penalty spot against Dundee United.

The defender admits he may not get the chance with the rest of his Rangers team-mates now queuing up to be the club's penalty taker following last night's 4-0 win in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash at Tannadice.

United were reduced to eight men when Mihael Kovacevic, Sean Dillon and Morgaro Gomis were all shown straight red cards after conceding penalties, two of which were converted by Whittaker before he missed the third.

Nikica Jelavic and Kyle Lafferty were also on the scoresheet as Rangers stretched their lead at the summit to four points, before Celtic travel to Kilmarnock tonight.

His miss cost Whittaker his first ever hat-trick but he says he would be happy to step up again, even if Rangers are handed a spot-kick in this weekend's crucial Old firm derby.

He said: "There is a queue and I had to fight off about four people to hit the third one. I've hit pressure penalties this season and I would be happy to hit one again.

"At the moment I'm the taker but, now that I've missed one, someone else might step up. I've always mixed my penalties up. When I first got on them, I hit a couple hard and then I placed a couple. I think it was a case of too many in the one game!

Dundee United manager Peter Houston was unhappy about the dismissals of Dillon and Gomis but has yet to decide whether to appeal any of the red cards.

He said: "I don't know, I'll speak to the chairman with regards to that. We are charged something like a grand for an appeal and money is hard to come by in these times.

He added: "We have to put it behind us now and we have to pick a team for Saturday because we have a huge game against Kilmarnock."