The importance of league business means Paul Dixon won’t take any chances with his injured knee when Dunfermline visit Tannadice tomorrow.
But the Dundee United fullback is still eying Betfred Cup qualification _ as group winners.
Dixon limped off just before half-time at Inverness last Saturday and is rated no better than 50-50 for the final group tie.
The next 48 hours will decide if he makes the Pars clash and desperate as he is to be involved, the 29-year-old admits he has to look at a bigger picture.
“I want to play, but to be honest the league is the most important thing for us this season,” he said.
“If I’m still feeling my knee I’ll probably sit it out because I want to be ready for the first league game at it’ll be less than a week away.
“Going for promotion has to be the priority for us, so that has to be the deciding factor.”
Dixon, though, believes the League Cup sections have been a vital part of United’s preparations for the Championship.
And playing or not, he wants to see United progress as group winners.
They will go through if they win and even if Inverness beat Arbroath tomorrow, will top the group so long as they better the Highlanders’ score against the Lichties.
“Looking back over the three games so far I think we’ve done well and if we can win the group it will be deserved.
“I’m still frustrated about the late goal we lost at Arbroath in the first game because we should have seen that one out.
“If we had we would know a win tomorrow would definitely be enough to finish top.
“At least we took the bonus point from winning the penalty shoot-out and doing the same again at Inverness last week was a help.
“I have to say it seemed a bit odd taking penalties after games that were being put down as draws.
“It’s worked well for us because those bonus points mean we know we are through if we can beat Dunfermline.
“I thought we were very good when we beat Cowdenbeath at Tannadice.
“And, mentally, coming back to draw at Inverness was important. Having been relegated, to play a Premiership team was a challenge and we came through it.
“I thought the boys should have won up there over the 90 minutes, but it was still a good performance from us.”
Dunfermline can also qualify for the next stage if they come to Tannadice and win.
Dixon knows United will have to be on form to prevent that happening.
“They are a decent side and I think they will do well in the Championship this season.
“We played them in the League Cup last season and it was a close game until we moved ahead in extra-time, so we’re definitely not expecting and easy game.
“But our aim is to win and I think if we do it will give us a nice boost going into the league.
“In every game so far we’ve got sharper and been coming together as a team.
“The new boys who’ve come in have gelled well and that’s been encouraging.
“When you look at how some of the other bigger teams have struggled a bit in their groups, we can be reasonably pleased at how we’ve done.
“There’s still a game to go, tough, and it is up to us to make sure we get the job done.”
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