Dundee United midfielder Fraser Fyvie had declared himself fit and ready to make a Dundee derby debut.
The former Hibs and Aberdeen man didn’t appear in Ray McKinnon’s squad for Saturday’s first league match of the season up at Inverness, which they won 1-0.
However, all the indications are that he has shown more than enough in training to put himself in contention for tomorrow’s Betfred Cup last 16 clash against Dundee at Dens Park.
Fyvie, who signed for the Tannadice club last Friday, said: “It has been a long summer for me so it has been good to get it all sorted.
“It has been great to get out training with the boys.
“I had been in training at Aberdeen for the last four weeks and I would like to thank (Dons boss) Derek McInnes for that.
“So I feel that I am up to speed so if the gaffer wants to chuck me in that’s up to him.
“I would be happy with that.
“We will need to see where I am and obviously I haven’t played a game yet.
“I feel fit, though, and ready.
“I think I would last 60 or 70 minutes no problem but it’s is after that it becomes questionable because I have not played for a few months now.”
Should Fyvie feature against Dundee, whether from the start or from the bench, then he will relish the challenge of facing his old Hibs teammate Scott Allan.
He said: “I think Dundee are a good side and, obviously, Scotty is going to be creative for them throughout the season.
“I played with him at Hibs and he was fantastic for us.
“He got his move to Celtic at that time and I think he was a bit unfortunate there.
“He has gone out on loan to prove a point, obviously.
“He is a good player and Scott and I were always at each other in training.
“I always want to try my best against good players so I look forward to facing him on Wednesday if I get the chance.”
Fyvie’s situation leaves United boss McKinnon with another decisions to make as regards his starting line-up.
He already had James Keatings, Patrick N’Koyi, Stewart Murdoch and Willo Flood available after injury, while Scott McDonald and Mark Durnan are free of suspension and both expected to start at Dens.
McKinnon said: “It is maybe hard to gauge where he is in terms of playing but Fraser looked so good in training.
“He is a top player – a Premiership player easily.
“He has a bit of bite about him, can dig in, pass it and get past people.
“He has everything as a midfielder and that’s why I was absolutely delighted to get him signed.
“Now it is about whether or not we think he is able to start the game.
“Players like him and Scott McDonald are experienced know their own bodies.
“As a team we will need to be bang at it against Dundee and we have players already in the side who are bang at it.
“We might make a couple of changes, though, and it is good to have all these options.”
As for derby number two of the season, McKinnon believes United will walk up the road in confident mood.
He added: “It is not ideal to have what is our third massive away match in just a week or so but we have come through two of them very well and hopefully we can get through the third.
“We are in good shape, I think.
“The boys are playing with confidence, so much so that I had to stop Paul McMullan in particular during training and tell him that’s enough because he was on fire.”
