And, while boss Craig Levein knows the former Valencia man will not be at peak fitness by the time the SPL gets under way at Hamilton on Monday week, he is happy with the progress the front man’s been making.

“We’ll be taking him to Plymouth and, right now, the plan is to give him 45 minutes,” said Craig today. “He did fitness work on Monday and Tuesday, and he’s coming on, so he should be able to last a half on Saturday. He’ll do more next week and I’d say that, by the time we get to Hamilton, he’ll be something like 80%, so he won’t be too far away.”

A squad of around 20 players will fly down to Plymouth first thing on Saturday morning and those not on the plane are likely to be on duty back in Dundee in a friendly against local juniors North End.

Not involved in either weekend fixture will be winger Craig Conway, though his return from the broken metatarsal that ended last season prematurely is close. He is likely to be given the go ahead to resume ball work next week. From that point to availability to the first team should be a relatively short period.

“Craig’s been doing all the fitness work and been running hard all summer — the physio has just been protecting him a bit to make sure his foot has healed,” explained Craig. “His general level of fitness is good — he was working with Sandaza at the start of the week and I’d put him ahead of him — so, once he is kicking the ball, I don’t think it will be long before he is available.”

At Tannadice today, United and their fans made a £40,000 gesture when they handed over 230 season tickets that will be used by children and young people from across Dundee, whose circumstances would otherwise prevent them from watching SPL football.

Handing over the tickets to Dundee City councillors Helen Wright and George Regan was United chief executive Steven Thompson.

They were paid for via donations and fund raising from local and exiled fans, supporters’ organisations, messageboards and from the club itself, which has £1 for £1 matched the generosity of the fans. It’s the fourth year United for Kids Appeal and supporter response has led to a record number of tickets being provided.

They will be circulated across Dundee’s Integrated Children and Young Person’s Services, both within the city council and the voluntary sector.

“This is a magnificent gesture from both fans and Dundee United,” said councillor Wright. “It allows children, who are living away from home in residential or foster care, or who are young carers themselves and generally those who could not otherwise afford it, to attend matches.”

Even in the face of that, and the knowledge that possible stand-in Eddie Malone is also struggling, Alex was still looking forward to the league kick-off.

“Jim’s had to have an injection — Bob Davidson has a similar complaint, so he’s had one, too. We are hopeful that will fix the problem and they’ll be back next week, but they have no chance for Saturday,” he said.

That news has prompted Alex to have a look at a trialist with Saturday specifically in mind — Spaniard Kiko Torres, who arrived on Tuesday, is not expected to feature at the weekend.

As usual, the manager was refusing to give out names, but did confirm the new man is someone who is well known to him.

“I’ve got him up from down in England where he has played at a high level. I’ve played in the same team as him and one of the things I wanted to know before he travelled up was that his fitness was good.

“He told me it is and, if that proves to be the case, it is fair to say I would consider him for a place on Saturday.

“It could be a chance for him, or whoever else comes in, to show they are worth a regular place and that’s the positive when you’ve got injuries.

“I have to say, though, I would prefer to be going into the first game with my centre-halves available.”