DUNDEE UNITED were last night considering a new offer from Reading for striker Noel Hunt.

The Tangerines rejected a £500,000 bid from Royals boss Steve Coppell on Monday but the Championship side are desperate to land the Republic of Ireland B star and are believed to have added another £100,000.

United do not want to lose Hunt but know the striker is in the final year of his contract and a big-money sale would be a good piece of business for a player they signed from Dunfermline two years ago for only £50,000.

Hunt (25) ended as the club’s top scorer last season with 18 goals in all competitions and was a crucial figure in the challenge for third place in the SPL.

However, the recent arrivals of Francesco Sandaza and Warren Feeney mean manager Craig Levein is well off for strikers, so if Hunt is allowed to move to the Madjeski Stadium—where his brother Stephen plays—United have plenty of cover.

The United boss said, “They have come back to us with another offer and it is under consideration.”

United stopper Garry Kenneth has the chance to play himself back into contention for a place in the squad to play Barcelona on Saturday when he turns out for a second-string United at Arbroath tonight.

Kenneth, who injured his ankle against UCD in Ireland last week, did a full training session yesterday and will play against the Red Lichties tonight.

He will be joined by several players with first-team experience, including Greg Cameron, Kevin Smith, David Goodwillie, Marco Andreoni and John Russell, while Andis Shala could figure having recovered from a niggling leg strain in time for last night’s win over Dunfermline.

However, boss Levein doesn’t envisage many, if any of those named making it into the starting line-up for the friendly against Barcelona on Saturday.

Long-term injury victim John Daly played a half against the Pars last night while Craig Conway should be fit to resume playing again within a fortnight, Levein revealed, although he added it will be at least a month before Keith Watson will be available again.