For the time being at least, though, he is putting his own future down his list of priorities, and the Dark Blues fight to avoid relegation at the top.

He’s also brushed aside the disappointment of Saturday’s Scottish Cup exit at Hibs to focus on what he regards as more vital business with fellow-SPL strugglers Inverness Caley at Dens this weekend.

“People have been asking me about the Leicester thing and my future, but, to be honest, I think it is more important to be thinking about the league and doing something about our position,” said Wilkie.

“We are at the bottom and want to get off as soon as possible. That means trying to get a win against Inverness Caley. They are down near us and it is games against them and teams like Livingston and Dundee United that we need to be winning to get away from the bottom.

“From my point of view, I have also only had two games back since being out for 11 months and I have to be thinking about getting my fitness and touch back before I start looking further into the future.”

Although Dundee went down to two late goals at Easter Road, Wilkie gave a strong display at the heart of the defence. Even so, he still believes he needs a few more games to get 100% match fit.

“I was a bit tired by the end of Saturday and there are still wee things I notice I am having problems with that I wouldn’t if I had been playing regularly. It’s frustrating, but my knee is feeling fine, and the other things will come with the more games I play.”

While it has been a bleak time for the Dark Blues and defeat in the cup was painful, Wilkie still believes the team can avoid the drop.

“I think the big difference between the teams at Hibs was confidence. They have got plenty just now and it showed, whereas ours is a bit down. Everyone, though, gave 100% and fought really hard. They missed a few chances, but maybe in the end we were a wee bit unlucky not to get a replay.

“To take positives from it, we can now concentrate on doing better in the league and, if we show the same commitment as we did on Saturday, we can do it.”

Meanwhile, Brent Sancho was unable to train today as his knee was swollen after the cup-tie.

Tomorrow night was immediately pencilled in as the new date, but, with more heavy rain and gales forecast for tomorrow, there remains some doubt about the game going ahead.

“We have polythene covers down and we are doing all we can to make sure the game goes ahead this time, but the likelihood of more heavy rain tomorrow does make me a bit pessimistic,” said Gretna secretary Helen McGregor today.

“It was very disappointing when we had to call the game off on Saturday because we had people coming from all over the country and interest in the tie was huge, but it had rained throughout the night on Friday and we just could not ask people to travel in the weather conditions.”

One plus today was the high winds that had been part of the problem at the weekend. They were helping dry out the pitch and, if the worst of the rain that has already led to severe flooding in nearby Carlisle, misses Gretna, there will be action at Raydale Park.

“We have spoken to people at the ground and they are doing a lot of work on the pitch. Right now, they are sounding quite confident and, hopefully, we’ll get the game played tomorrow,” said Tangerines assistant boss Gordon Chisholm.

There were no complaints from United concerning Saturday’s call-off. As soon as the team arrived in the borders, it was apparent there was a problem, as Gordon explained.

“We travelled down to Dumfries on Friday night to stay in a hotel and it was obvious then there was going to be a doubt. Even on Saturday, trying to get back up the road was not easy and we had to take another route from Dumfries because of fallen trees.”

If the pitch passes an expected inspection tomorrow morning, United will set off early.

New defender Lee Mair, who completed his move back to Scotland from Stockport County on Friday night, is eligible for tomorrow’s tie, but is unlikely to take part.

“Lee is lacking match fitness, so we will probably leave him behind to have a double session here tomorrow and he’ll take part in a bounce game on Wednesday,” said boss Ian McCall.

“Hopefully, that should mean he’s ready for the squad against Hearts on Saturday.”

The free tickets that were distributed for the game will still be valid and United have asked any fans who have tickets, but cannot make it this time, to hand them into the club shop at Tannadice so that other supporters can make use of them.

Fans are free to call into the shop to see if any tickets are available, though the club cannot guarantee there will be.

Saints have no injuries after yesterday’s Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of Inverness Caley Thistle.

Man of the Match was Jason Shmyr, who received a game misconduct for his part in a melee at the end.

Scorers for Stars were Cristiano Borgatello, Scott Barnes and Patric Lochi (2).

Home coach Roger Hunt, while pleased with the win, wasn’t too happy with the way his men almost let Flames back into the game. He said, “It was a good win, but I’m disappointed with how we did it. We did get the two points, however, so I don’t want to dwell on it too much.

“Edinburgh won last night, too, so it’s getting tricky, but the main thing is that we got the win.

“I was happy with our performance in the second period, but, in the third period, we thought it was over and fell asleep, which we can’t do in future.”

Stars’ next outing is a Caledonia Cup game against Fife Flyers on Thursday at Dundee Ice Arena (face-off 7.30 pm) and coach Hunt is looking to build on last night’s win.

He added, “It gives us some momentum for Thursday’s game. It’s a Caledonia Cup game and we’re currently top of that, which is where we’d like to stay.”