Keith Watson is hoping that his long wait to face Celtic is finally about to end.
Watson was to make his first SPL start for Dundee United against the Hoops in March 2007.
However, he dislocated his knee cap during the warm up, plunging him into two-and-a-half years of injury strife.
Back fit, though, he now vies with Mihael Kovacevic to line up against the Neil Lennon’s side at Tannadice on Sunday.
The 20-year-old is anxious to get the nod. “It would be great to face Celtic at last,” he said.
“I’m not sure if I’ll get the chance, with Kova having served his suspension. We’ll have to wait and see.
“But I’d love to be picked and have the opportunity to face Robbie Keane.
“He’s different class, up there with the best I’ve faced, and to be on the same park as him would be unbelievable.”
United need to win on Sunday to retain any hope of splitting the Old Firm. Watson admitted they still harbour ambitions of doing that.
“If we beat Celtic there would only be four points between the pair of us and they’ve still an Old Firm game to come,” he said.
“For now, we’re just looking to confirm third, but if the chance to go for second place is there after Sunday then we’ll go for it.”
The Tangerines are already assured of European football next season, and according to Gibson, that’s brought an excitement to the dressing room.
“There’s been a good mood about the club this week. Everyone is on a high after qualifying for Europe.
“It’s brilliant knowing we’ll be in the Europa League and that if we were to win the Scottish Cup we’d only be a round away from the league stage of the tournament.
“We could be up against some tough teams, but that’s something we would look forward to.
“I was in Holland with the Scotland under-19s and came on as a sub, but that’s my only experience of playing foreign opposition.”