Dundee United manager Micky Mellon is considering starting star striker Lawrence Shankland against Rangers.
Shankland has been out since the opening match of the Premiership season against St Johnstone on August 1 but has finally recovered from his ankle injury.
The Tangerines really struggled without him in their last fixture – the 4-0 loss at Kilmarnock – and manager Mellon has been determined to welcome him back for Ibrox.
The lay-off even cost the player his place in the Scotland squad for the recent Nations League games against Israel and the Czech Republic.
However, the international break has given him time to put the injury behind him and possibly even start against the Light Blues.
United manager Mellon confirmed: “He is fit and has been doing a lot of work and training over the last few days.
“We will have a look at that (a possible start) because we have to weigh that up short and long-term. He will play some part at Ibrox.
“Any time you go and play Rangers you know it is going to be a challenge and you want to have as many really good options with you to give yourself a chance of overcoming things.
“If any team loses their goalscorer and the player who has been scoring all their goals then people can use that as an excuse.
“We really believe we have good players here who would keep the things moving but it is always good to get good players back into your group again.”
Mellon confirmed that trialist midfielder Florent Hoti will be joining them but the deal has not yet been finalised.
The United gaffer, while cautioning that the deal was not over the line, said: “Florent has impressed and he ticks a lot of the boxes.
“He is a really talented player, has a lot of good attributes and a good mentality.
“He is left-footed and someone I think we can make better.
“There are a lot of things I can add to his game and he’s a good young player who is confident in his own ability.
“So he is someone I am looking forward to adding that game knowledge to and getting him working smartly.
“He’s got the chance of a call up from Kosovo because his parents are from there so I believe that opportunity will be there for him.”
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