That’s was a relief for manager Duffy, not only because his options are limited but also the fact that the young defender has been one of his most consistent performers this season.

“I thought Lee Mair was absolutely outstanding on Sunday and it’s a big bonus he hasn’t suffered any reaction to his injury.”

Meanwhile, Mair is included in a group of players whose contracts are coming to an end, but Duffy is remaining tight-lipped on who will be offered new deals.

“I’ve told the directors at the club the players I want to keep and it’s now in their hands to sort out new contracts,” added Jim.

Midfielder Georgi Nemsadze was due to meet a specialist this evening in a bid to get to the root of the problem over his injured knee.

“Hopefully we’ll find out the extent of the problem with Georgi. It could be he’ll only be out for a week, but it may be much longer. We just don’t know,” said Jim.

AT TANNADICE, despite picking up four points from their last two league games with an unchanged side, boss Ian McCall is contemplating making a few changes for tomorrow’s CIS clash with Livingston.

Tony Bullock, Charlie Miller and Scott Paterson are all definitely out, but the Tangerines boss may offer Mark Kerr or Barry Robson a starting role.

“I may freshen things up a wee bit,” said Ian, who admitted he’ll be looking for a continuation of the form that saw his side storm back for a draw in Sunday’s derby. “We’ll be looking to keep the momentum going, but Livingston are a top six side and it will be a very hard game.”

The Tannadice club have reduced admission for tomorrow’s tie to £14 (adults) and £7 (concessions) for all parts of the ground.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that United’s home SPL match versus Hearts, originally scheduled for Saturday, November 29. will now take place 24 hours later. The 3 pm kick-off remains unaffected.

The re-scheduling is due to Hearts’ UEFA Cup commitments.