That was news to Dundee, who, since the fixtures were published in June, have been scheduled to meet promotion rivals Livingston at Dens Park at 3 pm on Tuesday, January 2.

And while they believed the matter would be resolved amicably, the Dark Blues quickly stressed they had no plans to alter their longstanding date.

“We have not heard anything from United, the SPL or even the SFL about this, and it has come as a bit of a surprise because we have a game that day,” said Dens chief executive Dave McKinnon.

“Obviously we’ll be speaking to United about it and, hopefully, it can be sorted out. There have been a few fixture clashes this season, so we’ve had meetings and the relationship between the clubs has been very good.

“In this case, as ours is the scheduled fixture, we obviously feel it takes precedence. We have not had any thoughts about switching the game and are going ahead with our plans for it.”

With festive games popular with sponsors, the commercial department at Dens have already taken a number of bookings for hospitality lounges and the fact many of those lounges will also be in use for a Hogmanay party has only added to their reluctance to switch to January 1.

At United, chairman Eddie Thompson was just as keen to stress the good relationship and, now that his club’s fixture change was official, said they would be contacting Dundee to discuss the problem.

“We’ve been speaking about it here today and one of our directors, Gibby Haggart, will be in touch with Dave McKinnon,” he said.

“As Dave has rightly said, there is a very good relationship between the clubs and we want that to continue. We will be holding discussions and, in advance of them, we can’t really talk about what will happen.”

Meanwhile, at Dens today, teenager Kevin McDonald (pictured right) was receiving the SFL Young Player of the Month award for September.

It’s the latest accolade for the much-watched and talked about McDonald, but manager Alex Rae believes the midfielder’s feet will stay firmly on the ground.

“Kevin’s not the type to get carried away and I am sure he will take this in his stride. He keeps doing well and a lot of people are interested in him, but right now I am convinced this is the best place for him to be.

“I’ve seen young players at other clubs playing reserve football each week, but Kevin is learning a lot more in the First Division.

“It’s a decent standard with some good experienced pros and it’s also a proven route to success — it’s where I started and I ended up in the English Premiership,” laughed the gaffer.

Ever protective of his young talent, and always keen to give little away in advance about his selections, however, today Craig stopped short of confirming David’s place.

“He’s given me a lot to think about, not just after his U/19 performances but because of the quality of his work with us in the last few weeks,” he said.

“He’s pushing very hard, but before I decide if he gets one, I will look at the whole package. He played very well for Scotland and we all know what a talent he is, but against that we are coming up against a team who are top of the league and playing with a lot of confidence.

“On Saturday, he would be up against international defenders and, however good the football was in the U/19s, that’s a big step up. David will be stripped, though, and has a very good chance of being involved.”

Not so clear after his longer than anticipated stint on international duty in the Caribbean is the possibility of Collin Samuel being involved.

He scored for Trinidad in a 2-1 friendly win over Panama last night and today was embarking on his long journey home – United would like to see him in training tomorrow, but it may be late in the day before he is back in Dundee.

“I want a look at him to see how he is, so we want him here in the morning, but it’s a situation I’ll have to deal with once he is actually back. It’s obviously not ideal,” added Craig.

Tickets for the Celtic game will be on sale from the club shop at Tannadice until 5 pm tomorrow and, because of the 12.30 pm kick-off, for just 30 minutes on Saturday morning.

There are a few dozen away end briefs left and Hoops fans note that, at the request of Celtic, all purchasers must provide proof of their identity and home address.