Keith Watson admits it was all a bit of blur the last time he was a cup winner.
With that in mind, he is not only determined to take in everything every second of tomorrow’s William Hill Scottish Cup final against St Johnstone but also tell his young teammates to do the same.
Watson was aged just 20 when he came on as an 83rd-minute substitute for Mihael Kovacevic as United moved towards a 3-0 victory over Ross County in 2010.
His form going into the Hampden clash meant he was extremely unfortunate not to have made Peter Houston’s starting line-up.
However, Watson still loved being involved, particularly when full-time came and he realised he had just taken part in something special.
“I only came on for the closing stages but it was great to be on the pitch when the final whistle went,” he said.
“We were 2-0 up when I got on and when the third goal went in I just wanted it to be over there and then so we could celebrate.
“It was a great feeling but it was a bit of a blur at the time. Hopefully, I can experience it again on Saturday. This time around I would like to take it all in and make the most of any celebrations.
“Cup finals don’t come around that often so to be in a second one in four years is pretty special.
“Last time round it was great in the changing room. We had champagne and everything. There were also a few drinks on the bus going back to Dundee and then we went out on the town.
“It got a bit blurry so there was a few rough heads on the Sunday, that’s for sure!
“We did make it up for the open-top bus on the Sunday, though, and that was an amazing experience. It just makes you want to do it again.”
So what will the more experienced Watson’s advice be to Tannadice youngsters such as Ryan Gauld, John Souttar, Stuart Armstrong, Nadir Ciftci and Andy Robertson?
“I will let them know what to expect and not to let the atmosphere and the crowd affect them,” he said.
“It just a case of treating it like any other game and not letting the occasion get to you. You need to keep your head.
“I am sure they will be fine. We have played in big games like the semi-final last year against Celtic where you had Soapy doing back-heels and Gauldy was excellent as well.
“Great players can handle it easily.”
Watson tried out the final venue last Sunday when United lost out to Celtic in the final league match of the season.
He himself slipped up literally in the lead-up to the Hoops’ third goal in the 3-1 defeat but he rightly felt there was enough in United’s overall play to signal that they might enjoy playing at Parkhead again tomorrow.
“I made a mistake when I slipped for the Celtic third goal last week but the manager Jackie McNamara told me I had done well overall and just to keep concentrating,” added Watson.
“It’s a good, big pitch at Parkhead and if we knock the ball about like we did on Sunday we can make it hard for St Johnstone. You saw at Celtic Park how much we enjoyed passing the ball about.
“I think it will be a tight game and it will need something special by someone like Nadir or Gaz (Mackay-Steven) to win it.
“They can make things happen and it might take a bit of magic because they have made things quite tight this season.”