Dundee United are keeping their fingers crossed the injury full-back Paul Dixon suffered in Saturday’s League Cup clash with Inverness Caley Thistle is not as serious as first feared.
In the dying seconds of the first half Dixon limped off after falling awkwardly and did not appear after the break.
There was a worry he’d suffered ligament damage but gaffer Ray McKinnon believes the 29-year-old’s absence should be measured in days, not weeks.
“We took him off as a precaution because of the way he landed. He might have tweaked a ligament but we’re hoping it’s nothing too serious,” he said.
“Dicker and Lewis Toshney have done very well in our games so far and the way we play our full-backs are very important to us. We’d like to keep them fit.”
There were no other fitness worries from the journey north.
And Ray was pleased with his team’s performance at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium and felt United were well worth their 1-1 draw over the 90 minutes.
For the second time in two away ties they then picked up a bonus point from the post-game penalty shoot-out that saw keeper Cammy Bell make two fine saves to enable his team to win 4-1.
Combined with last midweek’s 6-2 win over Cowdenbeath it leaves United on top of Group C on seven points.
They know a win over Dunfermline at Tannadice on Sunday can virtually guarantee progression to the draw for the knockout stages.
“The league is coming and we’ve been looking to build towards that but we also want to do well in this competition and progress.
“We’ve given ourselves a very good chance to do that.”
United, meanwhile, have won the race for highly-rated teenager Louis Appere.
The 17-year-old from Fife had a trial with Italian giants AS Roma earlier this summer.
Among others he was also on Raith Rovers’ radar, having trained at Stark’s Park when Ray was manager there last season.
The young striker, though, has opted to joined up at Tannadice instead and is now a member of the development squad.
He marked his new deal by scoring for the youths in a closed-door friendly against Formartine at the weekend.
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