However, whether the former Livingston front man has done enough to muscle his way into the team for Saturday’s home league clash against Inverness Caley remains to be seen.

“Leigh did very well last night — better than he has been doing,” said boss Jocky Scott.

“But the big problem remains his fitness. He missed a big part of our pre-season work and that has held him back.

“Unfortunately, with us having midweek games at the moment it is difficult to work him too hard during the week.

“We took him off as a precaution last night, because he was feeling his calf a little bit, but he’s feeling OK today.”

Meanwhile, Jocky was pleased with the overall display of his side as they moved into the last eight of the competition.

“Cowden did very well and made us work hard for our victory and it was good for the boys who didn’t play last Saturday to get 90 minutes under their belt.”

Defender David Cowan played the full match, but has been feeling slight pain in his groin and will be assessed by the physio.

Jocky was expecting word back from Leeds later today on goalkeeper Rab Douglas and defender Craig McKeown, who have travelled to England to see a specialist regarding stomach and groin problems respectively.

The draw for the ALBA Challenge Cup third round takes place tomorrow afternoon at Hampden.

And, yesterday, several first-team men saw match action in a 4-2 closed-door win over Hamilton.

Featuring against Accies were skipper Lee Wilkie, and front pair Damien Casalinuovo and Andis Shala, who have all been working their way back to fitness.

Also involved in a strong United line-up were defensive pair Garry Kenneth and Sean Dillon, midfielder David Robertson and wide man Craig Conway, who scored twice, with Casalinuovo and Johnny Russell also on target.

However, more important for the United gaffer was the fact everyone appeared to come through the game unscathed, giving him plenty of options for the weekend.

“Everyone seems OK and they will all be available for Saturday,” said Craig today.

Meanwhile, delighted as he was with the impressive win over Hearts, Craig stressed there was a long way to go.

But he’s confident the signing of Nicky Weaver, Andy Webster and Danny Cadamarteri can help what is essentially a young squad cope with the weeks ahead.

“Nicky, Andy and Danny did well on Monday, but, as well as their ability, one of the reasons we brought them in was for their experience.

“They have a fair bit of knowledge between them and that will definitely help us.

“The win over Hearts is only one game and, although it was encouraging, no-one here is getting carried away.”

Defender Mihael Kovacevic had to come off on Monday night, but was suffering only from a bout of cramp and will be OK for the weekend.

As he looked ahead to the game, Saints boss Derek McInnes, who watched Celtic against Arsenal last night, said, “We’re looking forward to the game. It’s matches like this we’ve wanted to take part in for a long time.”