One of those strikes came in a draw at Tannadice last month and Stillie, who was part of the same successful Dunfermline team as Brewster a couple of seasons back, has pinpointed him as a danger to the Tangerines’ cup hopes.

“When we go out on the pitch, we will not be thinking of his managerial aspect, we will be thinking he is one of our opponents and he is a player who is a big threat to us.

“He is still a fantastic player and he is up there among the leading scorers in the country at the minute. He is the main danger to us progressing in the competition.”

Since their time together at East End Park, Stillie has believed Brewster would move into management and that he has done so successfully has come as no surprise.

“From the way he went about things, he always seemed destined for it. He is very professional and, as a player, he always appeared to be one who would go on to become a manager.

“Of course, he is also well liked here because he scored the cup-winning goal for United and that is not something the fans will forget. He won’t be popular for this game, though, because we want to go through.”

United were boosted by a convincing win over Livingston on Saturday and Stillie admits his first clean sheet in domestic football this season has also given him a lift.

“It’s what you strive for as a goalkeeper and, although you are playing quite well it is not so bad if you don’t get them, that is still what you aim for and you count up as the season goes on.

“For the team as a whole, Saturday was encouraging and I thought the guys at the back were brilliant. When the defence is as solid as it was then, it gives the rest of the guys a platform to go on and express themselves and that is what they did.

“The win has raised expectations for this tie, but we already have high expectations of ourselves and our aim is to go up there and win, because we want to do well in all the competitions.”

United were travelling up the A9 this afternoon with virtually a full squad. With Collin Samuel and Barry Robson both being declared fit, only long-term absentee Lee Mair is unavailable.

“That’s a bonus and, if we can keep all the boys fit, it will be a help to us. I think the way we played and the fact we did not concede on Saturday has given everyone a lift and we want to keep that form going,” said boss Gordon Chisholm.

“We are in the middle of a big week for us and, if we can make it three wins with a result tonight and at Dunfermline on Saturday, we will have done ourselves a lot of good.”

The gaffer, though, is just as keen to get a look at first-team fringe players who he has still not seen in action.

“It’s a good chance to see the trialists in a competitive situation and that’s always preferable to just watching them in training. But I also want to see players like Jacinto and Keiran Keane, because I have not had the opportunity yet to see them in action for any length of time,” he said.

As things stand right now, there is room on the wage bill at Dens only for one, if any, of the new men, so Israeli Melamed, Canadian Thompson and Turk Kalkan are effectively competing with each other for a contract.

Last night, it was Alan himself who was in the spotlight when he took part in a Dee 4 Life organised question-and-answer session with fans. Both manager and supporters’ trust voted the evening a success.

“It was nice to meet the fans and hear their thoughts, and there were some good questions asked from the floor,” added the manager.

For their part, Dee 4 Life were delighted to see the Andy Penman Lounge packed and thanked Alan for a “frank and honest performance that was appreciated by those attending”.

At the end of the evening, the trust handed over a video software package that will enable the manager to analyse the team’s future performances.

“We should have won our last two home games instead of drawing them, so there’s room for improvement,” Owen said.

“There are some decent teams in the First Division and we’re as good as any. In our last three matches, we’ve lost the first goal and I’d like to see what other teams have to offer when we go in front.

“We’ve shown character to bounce back from a goal down and we have good players at this club. They realise we want to entertain as well as win and word is getting round about that with our home support up.

“But we must stop conceding sloppy goals and we must start killing teams off.”

Today, Saints faced Raith in a closed-door game, with fringe first-team men taking part.

Meanwhile, skipper Kevin James is set to see a specialist regarding his Achilles injury.