And he has made it clear that, if that is indeed the case, he will regard the move as unacceptable.

“I don’t know why Shaka Hislop is not in the squad, perhaps there is a good reason. But if he has been left out because they think they don’t need him for this one, it would be outrageous as far as I am concerned,” he said.

“That would be selective selection and a case of saying one player is more important to his club than another, or that he is bigger than the rest of the team and that’s a disgrace.

“I will be trying to find out what the situation is, though, in this case, it will not do much good because Brent has already left for home.”

This is not the first time Dundee have experienced problems with Trinidad and what appears to be preferential treatment for their English-based players.

Earlier this season, Sancho was stranded in the Caribbean because of bad weather, but those members of the squad based down south did make it back in time to play for their clubs. On another occasion, Jim was less than impressed with the T&T FA’s failure to keep him informed after Sancho picked up a head injury in an international.

Also heading across the Atlantic on international duty yesterday was full-back Jonay Hernandez, who is due to turn out for Venezuela in their South American World Cup qualifier against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

With the defence leaking three goals in defeat at Motherwell on Saturday, Jim admitted having two key men absent from training this week was not ideal.

“We are pleased to have people representing their country, but the timing of this week’s games is not good.

“The defence is obviously an area where we have to be putting a lot of work in during training, but that’s difficult to do when two of your players are away all week.

“With internationals, injuries and Brent and Stephen McNally’s court case the other week, a lot of the time it has not been possible to do the work I’ve wanted to do and it does get frustrating.

“This week is another one where we do not even know if the players will be back in time to play for us at the weekend. We’ll just have to wait until Friday and see if they arrive.”

It is the first time such a scheme has been used this season, but, just as when this gesture has been made in past years, it will be administered by the Federation of Dundee United Supporters’ Clubs. Accordingly, anyone running a bus should contact the federation’s Joe Rice (07969 912526). While only recognised supporters' groups will be covered, the club have stressed that, subject to seat availability, all fans can book up.

Discussions are also taking place with ICT with a view to reducing admission prices at Pittodrie and confirmation of that should come tonight or tomorrow.

With the first team getting a day off today to aid the recovery from last week's hectic schedule, the focus at Tannadice was on the second string.

Tonight, the reserves make the long trip to Inverness when the likes of Lars Hirschfeld and Collin Samuel are expected to be on duty.

Looking forward to when the first teams clash, Chris Innes and Mark Wilson will return to the squad after their weekend suspensions.

Tomorrow, United will continue the fight against prejudice in football when they host a Show Racism the Red Card seminar for some 130 local primary children at Tannadice.

The event will include a question and answer session following a screening of Show Racism the Red Card videos.

The youngsters will then get the chance to question a panel including United players Derek McInnes, Jason Scotland and James Grady about racism and its consequences.

Saints face Arbroath at home tomorrrow in a reserve match, and will field some fringe first-team men.

Meanwhile, they are still taking a look at their two trialists, an Australian midfield man and Blackburn’s Kilmarnock-born forward Andy Reid.

Bekar impressed as he scored twice, despite only arriving in Dundee on Friday after travelling from Canada. Morgan also impressed. Last night, Stars travelled to Peterborough for the return leg of a Challenge Cup game. In the first game, Stars took Phantoms apart.

Last night was much the same, as Phantoms failed to get on the scoresheet, while Stars managed to get eight past Stephen Wall.

Hunt was very pleased with the show, stating, “It was a great performance. It was good to get two points to set us up with what could be the re-start of Stars’ season.

“This was one of the first weekends all season where we were playing with eight imports, so it was nice to be back to full strength in that department.

“We’re still suffering from injury problems, but Paddy Ward is close to being back, as is Chad Reekie. Patric Lochi is a little bit further away, but, hopefully, the team will be back to full strength soon.

“I thought the new guys played very well. I think Bekar will get better, as this was his first weekend with the team, and he only arrived on Friday morning after a long flight from Canada. We were lacking in scoring punch and the team owners gave me the resources to rectify that. Hopefully, we’ve done that with Cory and Derek.

“I think things are looking good for the rest of the season. We can’t go back down that injury route, we need the gods to smile on us and for the guys to stay healthy. If we can stay healthy, we’re capable of moving up the table.”

Stars’ next game is on Saturday when they travel to Hull to take on Stingrays again. On Sunday, Stars are at home for a huge game against Sheffield Steelers.

When the Stars played Steelers in Sheffield, team co-owner Steve Ward described the 3-2 win as, “one of the best performances from a Stars team ever.”

Sheffield are one of the best sides in Britain, and won both the league and play-off championships in the Elite League last year.