On Monday, Hunt struck as United went down at UCD and, last night, he was the hero when his late header secured a hard-earned victory over Tolka Rovers at Frank Cooke Park.

And, while game time for as many players as possible has been the object of the exercise this week, the Irishman admitted finishing the stay in his homeland with a victory was a big relief.

“The gaffer has been saying us getting a good workout was what he wanted, but there is no way we wanted to be coming home on the back of two defeats so it was good to beat Tolka,” he said.

“And, for me, getting goals has been good. I was pleased with the goals (17) I got last season and it is good to be among them again from the start of the build-up.”

On an even more personal note, Hunt was delighted to see over a dozen of his Dublin-based relatives in the crowd at the two games here.

“We’re a close family and being over in Scotland means I don’t always get to see them as often as I like, but my aunt and uncle and a lot of my first cousins have been able to come to the games and that’s been good.

“I got to have a word with them after the game and I was really pleased to score in front of them.”

The good news for United fans is that, while it looks like the 25-year-old has hit the ground running, he feels there is even better to come.

“I am happy with how I’ve felt, but I’d definitely say I’ve got about 40% still to come and my match fitness will improve with more games, but it is a case of so far so good.”

Boss Craig Levein, meanwhile, was satisfied with another stiff test for his players, and highlighted the fitness levels of both opponents as being the major reason he chose to take the team to Ireland.

“When you get games against sides whose fitness is better than yours, you know the players are going to have to work hard and that is exactly what we wanted at this stage.

“You don’t want players standing about, you want them up and down the park against fit teams who can play and make you work and that what we’ve got.

“We did not want to suffer another defeat, so winning was pleasing as were some of the performances.

“Others were not so good, but we have time to work on that.”

Lauchlan remains on trial and could feature in Sunday’s Dens friendly against Wolves. For now, though, moves to put him on a contract have been put on hold.

“I have not finalised anything with Jim and nothing is likely to be done today,” said Dundee boss Alex Rae.

“He’s still training with us and I could look at him again on Sunday, but there are possibly another couple of trialists coming in and I’m keeping my options open.”

There were no injury worries from Tuesday’s draw against Aberdeen and longer term injury victims Darren Young and Craig McKeown are making progress, though neither are nearing a return just yet.