Negotiations resumed early this morning and continued throughout the day. They were described as being at “a delicate stage”.

It is understood Caley had been seeking somewhere in excess of £250,000 for Brewster, his assistant Malcolm Thomson and coaches Peter Davidson and Stevie Campbell, while United were offering £100,000 less.

A figure somewhere between the two sums is close to being agreed upon, though Caley chairman David Sutherland has warned he will not let talks drag on.

“Today is the time limit. If that doesn’t happen, then Craig Brewster will remain manager of the team and is welcome to be manager of the team. We have great belief in this young man,” he said.

“There has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and we need to get a settlement agreed one way or the other. We have made a pretty reasonable request.”

He stressed he felt the money being asked for was not excessive and made it clear he did not view his club simply as a breeding ground for managerial talent — the last three years or so have seen ICT lose Steve Paterson, John Robertson and now probably Brewster to more established outfits.

“We have made him the manager he is. Bigger clubs can’t waltz in, they have to pay the right compensation. He is still manager of Inverness Caley Thistle and I hope we can sort this out quickly for the sake of Craig, the fans and the Dundee United fans.”

As things stand, Billy Dodds remains interim manager and will be taking charge of the team against the Bairns.

If that is still the case come kick-off, the fact it will be his one and only game as boss will not dilute his desire to pick up three points.

“I am a winner, I always have been — you saw that at the final whistle last week, even if I did show it in the wrong way,” he said. “Until I am told otherwise, I will prepare the players and doing everything I can to win this game — that’s called professionalism. If we can win and results go for us elsewhere, we could be back on the coat tails of the top six.”

Missing on Sunday will be midfielder Barry Robson, who begins a two-game suspension, while a bout of flu means teenage defender Garry Kenneth is not yet certain to make the squad.

Pencilled in for a starting place is full-back Mark Wilson and, this time, it does look like he will be making his final appearance as a Tangerine.

Although they are also speaking to Hibs defender Gary Caldwell about what, for the moment, is being viewed as a summer switch, Celtic remain keen on Wilson and intend making a £500,000 move for him early next week.

United fans attending Sunday’s match will receive a £10 voucher, which they can redeem in the club shop if they spend £20 or more.

“I think we have been doing well defensively and, apart from the second half against Airdrie, our record over the last few weeks must be really good,” said the centre-half.

“It’s probably down to us having good experience in Bobby Mann and Barry Smith being in there alongside myself and Dicker (Paul Dixon), and the fact we’ve had a run of games together has been good.

“Earlier in the season, it did not help that the team had to be chopped and changed all the time. Having the same back four for a while has helped us build an understanding.

“However, for all our clean sheets, there have been a couple of 0-0 draws in the run, so we have dropped points. It is only once we are winning regularly again that we can think of looking at the top of the division.

“Right now, it is just a case of getting our heads down each week and trying to win the next game. If we can do that for a few weeks, maybe then we can start thinking about the promotion race again. But, really, we are just going to try to get as high as we can and take things from there.”

A steady improvement in results has boosted confidence among Alan Kernaghan’s squad, but Macdonald has not forgotten what he refers to as “too many bad days”.

One of them came against tomorrow’s opponents Ross County, when they dumped Dundee 3-0 at Victoria Park in mid-November, while, back in September, the home team were fortunate to come away from a goalless Dens draw with a point.

“The game up there was, obviously, one of the bad days and I don’t think we played well in the draw here either.

“I got on in the second half in that game because it was my first game back from injury and, although we kept a clean sheet, the manager was not too happy with the way we played.

“Up there, we had a lot of things that needed put right, but we are going into this one in better form and, if we keep working hard for each other, I’m sure it’s a game we can win.”

The manager believes hard work was the key to the result last time the teams met and believes it will be a major factor again tomorrow.

“They worked harder than us and were sharper, and that is why they won. We’ve been working hard recently, though, and can get a result tomorrow,” he said.

“I’ve been happy with the defensive performances, and last Sunday against Stranraer we started scoring goals and it is now a case of trying to keep that going.”

Dundee today signed goalkeeper Andy Britton on a short-term contract. The 20-year-old was born in California, but holds a British passport and, with Derek Soutar and Kelvin Jack both still injured, he will provide cover for teenager Scott Murray tomorrow.

Owen was absolutely furious and will be making changes.

One of these will see the return of Simon Mensing following suspension, but the manager is staying tight-lipped about other tinkering.

He watched Clyde beat Celtic 2-1 at home in their amazing Scottish Cup tie, so knows what to expect.

Owen described Clyde’s performance as “terrific” and is looking to apply similar adjectives to his own side’s showing tomorrow.

“The Clyde game gives us the opportunity to make up for last Saturday’s disappointment,” he said.

“The players have a chance to show what they can offer and I’m looking forward to the Clyde.”

One of the few plusses for the McDiarmid manager last Saturday was the form of teenage striker Andy Jackson — and he keeps his place in the pool.

A Steven Milne goal gave Saints a 1-0 win at Clyde earlier in the season, but he won’t be involved tomorrow as he underwent an exploratory knee operation today.

Saints ended up with nine men that day after Simon Mensing and Scott Paterson were dismissed.