“The back three of McCracken, Ritchie and Archibald, with Stillie behind, excelled in pre-season, but, apart from 45 minutes of the first game, we have not had them together. On Saturday they were and looked very tight,” he said.

“That enabled Mark Wilson and Barry Robson to get forward down the flanks and cause problems at the other end. While I’d said I wanted an improvement defensively, even if it meant sacrificing something in attack, I thought we won with a bit of style.”

There was also praise for new signing Peter Canero. He grabbed his first Tangerines goal and impressed with a powerful display in the middle of the park, despite not being fully match fit.

“It has been a big ask for him because, before the game at Hibs, he had not played for a while. He’s come in, though, and done very well.”

Tomorrow night, United make the long trek to Inverness on third-round CIS Insurance Cup duty and Gordon is hopeful he will have all the players on duty at the weekend and, possibly, even be able to add one other to the travelling party. “We are hopeful Collin Samuel will make it, but he has not trained for a wee while now and we will have to see how his hamstring reacts to stepping up his work,” he added.

“I’ll also have to check on Barry Robson, a case of continuing to monitor his ankle.

“He did not seem to feel it during the game on Saturday and that’s a good sign. It’s something that can change from one day to the next, but having him available and having the option of not making changes would be good.”

If Gordon does decide to freshen things up, skipper Derek McInnes could make his first appearance since having knee surgery just after the Scottish Cup Final back in May.

“I was tempted to put Derek on for the last 10 minutes on Saturday, but the midfield three were doing well and I decided to keep him back so he could have another couple of days training hard. He is one who could definitely be involved tomorrow.”

Inverness will have striker Dennis Wyness back in their squad for tomorrow. He was left out on Saturday against Hearts because his loan from Tynecastle includes a clause preventing him playing against them.

Thompson is a centre-half, while Melamed, a former Israeli Under-21 international, who has been playing in America, operates in central midfield. Like Kalkan, both have EU passports and, if they impress during their week-long stay, should be able to sign up and be available for selection fairly quickly.

Alan, meanwhile, was pleased with the performances of last week’s recruits Steven Craig and Stuart McCluskey in the 1-1 draw at St Johnstone.

“Steven is off to a flier with his early goal and, although he had a chance in the second half where I felt he might have done better, I was happy with him,” he said.

“Stuart was just what I said he would be — a steady Eddie who fitted in well. I thought defensively he did very well and while he might have been a bit better on the ball, he had not played for a while and that was understandable.

“Overall, I was happy with some aspects of the performances, but not others. I felt the boys fought hard and deserved their point, but if they had held on to the lead a bit longer it could easily have been a win.

“St Johnstone had a lot of possession second half, but we coped with it well and, with a little bit more confidence, we could have got three points.”

The weekend exertions left several players on the treatment table, with Iain Anderson and Adrian Madaschi both needing attention to knocks suffered in Perth.

Skipper Barry Smith, who played despite a groin problem, was rested from training. It could also be a few days before McDiarmid Park absentee Garry Brady has recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury to resume training with the rest of the squad.

Tonight, in an event organised by Dee 4 Life, fans can head to the Andy Penman Lounge at Dens Park at 7.30 for a question- and-answer session with the new boss and his assistant Billy Kirkwood.

Mark Campbell is free of his ban and may also play, but Neil Janczyk, Kevin James, John Henry and Kevin Fotheringam are still out injured.

Saints were happy that, of Saturday’s 5172 crowd, 3502 were in the home ends, with 1670 Dundee supporters turning out. Managing director Stewart Duff intimated, “I’m pleased with the home attendance.”

Today, Saints held their charity golf outing at Kinross in aid of the Perth Royal Infirmary Prostate Scanner Appeal Fund, involving 18 teams from various companies.