Both the fact he opted to head for the Tangerines and not the Dark Blues when he returned to Scotland earlier this month, and the manner in which he reached his decision, has angered Dundee fans.

It also left Jim Duffy accusing his former protege of a personal betrayal, though, the Dens boss has since stressed he does not regard that issue as relevant to tomorrow. His team’s supporters do not see it that way, though, and are planning to give the 23-year-old a rough ride.

In-form Soutar, a hero a two derby wins already this season, will ignore what he regards as a side issue and focus on the attempt to win another much-needed three points.

“Lee Mair is a good friend of mine — I’ll wish him all the best before the game. After it, I’ll shake his hand and still be his mate and all the other stuff is irrelevant to me,” he said.

Soutar does accept his friend will get abuse from the stands, but feels he is big enough to take it — and has reminded the support not to forget to back the team.

“Lee is not going to be the last one to go from here to there or vice-versa and the ones who do will always get stick, but it will fizzle out as time goes on. James Grady got some in the first derby of the season because he used to play for us, but, to be honest, I did not notice it on the pitch.

“There have been other things that have bothered our fans in the last few derbies, like the talk of us going down there to play, and that’s affected the atmosphere. But, hopefully, they will still get right behind the team because you need them in games like this.”

Although you have to go back almost three years for the last United success in this fixture, Soutar still views this as an extremely tough game that could go either way.

“The two derbies I’ve played in have gone very well for us and, hopefully, it can be right for us again this time. But they have spent a lot of money, have brought in quality players and will want to do well at home.

“The fact we have not lost to them for a while goes totally out the window when the game starts because it is a derby and they’re all different. We can have confidence because we’ve won the last couple, but they will look to take something.”

Brent Sancho is back in the squad after injury, but Stephen McNally and Mark Fotheringham will need checks because of back and foot problems.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen will have to move quickly if they are to make a serious bid to get Fabian Caballero before the transfer window closes on Monday night. Dundee have now confirmed a general inquiry was received from the Dons, but that has not been followed up with any bid.

“About 10 days ago, when I was trying to get Scott Morrison on loan, Jimmy Calderwood asked me about Fabian’s situation. There has been nothing more since then and, until something happens, we do not have a decision to make,” said Jim.

Dundee Direct will open from 10 am-noon tomorrow for fans still requiring tickets.