And, should he help shoot them down at Dens Park, he really can’t see what the down side would be.

“Promotion will always be our No. 1 goal for the season, nothing is going to change that, but I don’t agree that doing well in the cups could affect that,” said the 19-year-old.

“Maybe if we had a small squad the extra games would be a problem, but there is a big squad here and the manager has shown he can rotate us when he thinks it’s needed.

“And I think that, if we could reach the semi-final of this cup and win the Challenge Cup next month, it would only be good for how we play in the league.”

The confident teenager believes that’s on the cards — not because of Rangers’ well-documented troubles, but because he believes Dundee have the quality required to cause an upset.

“Rangers are Rangers and, whether they have problems or not, they are always going to have good players and be very hard to play against.

“We know that and we are looking forward to a game where the pressure is on the other team, because they are favourites and we are the underdogs.

“The manager wants us to have a go and that’s what we aim to do. It worked for us against Aberdeen in the last round and we believe we have a chance of doing it again.”

Two hefty second-half challenges against Raith Rovers on Saturday had put something of a question mark over his participation tonight, but Griffiths has declared himself fit.

And, while the tackling he’s been on the end of has seen some of his team-mates speaking out, he insists he is looking for no special protection from referees.

“As a striker, you are never going to go on a football pitch and not get tackled, so, for me, it is not a problem,” he added.

“On Saturday, the first tackle was a booking, but, for the second one, the referee didn’t even give a foul when everyone could see it was. All you can do is pick yourself up and play on.”

With just a few hundred tickets left when Dens Park opened for business today, tonight’s game was heading for a sell-out. Dundee stressed that sales had to end at 5 pm and have appealed to fans to come early as there will be no delay to the scheduled 7.45 kick-off.

He does not expect, though, any sympathy from a Saints side he sees as also having enough quality to go all the way.

“We have done well in this cup, but, as well as being unlucky because it was on penalties that we lost to Rangers in the final two years ago and Celtic in the semi last season, our performances in the games deserved more,” he said.

“Because of that, no-one could complain if we went all the way to the final and won. I know that’s not the way football works and to get back to the semis or the final we will have to earn it.”

Thanks to the league meeting they won 3-2 at McDiarmid Park last month, United are going into this game with reasonable knowledge of how the SPL newcomers play.

That win, though, will also serve as a reminder they will have to be at their very best to be confident of coming out on top this time.

“We did well to win in the league, because they are a good team and we had to be good to beat them. Now we have an idea of how they play and that is a help, but always in football something can happen that you do not expect.

“Even against teams you know very well, they can come up with something new to you and we have to be ready for that.”

A feature of United’s performances this year has been the ability to cope with a seemingly never-ending list of injuries.

It’s something Craig Levein has highlighted and Buaben feels it is testimony to the spirit the gaffer has instilled in his squad.

“Whether you are playing or not, he always makes you feel involved. That means when someone comes into the team they want to do well and that is why we have coped with the injuries.

“There are also a lot of good players here and you know you have to play well to stay in the team. I have been happy with how I have played so far, but I know I must keep it going because there are other midfielders who can come in and do a good job.”

Filipe Morais, who missed the Killie defeat due to a shoulder injury sustained against Rangers, is now OK and in the squad — as are Graeme Smith and Kevin Rutkiewicz.

Keeper Smith, signed in the close season, has yet to start a first-team game for Saints due to injury, and Rutkiewicz, yet to make his SPL bow for the club as he, too, has been kept out by injury, are now all right.

However, the ankle injury former Dundee forward Steven Milne recently sustained is proving slow to clear, and he has no chance of making it.

Having lost at Killie, the manager is delighted to have another outing so soon.

“This is a big game we have been looking forward to since the draw was made. Not only is it a home cup quarter-final, but it’s against our local rivals.

“Dundee United have shown in the last 20 or so years they can compete at a very high level, win trophies and regularly finish high up the league. Like them, we are an ambitious team and know we are only two games away from a final.

“We have just got back into the SPL, want to raise the bar of expectation and our aim tonight is to secure a semi-final place.”

Derek hopes his team will be inspired by having seen some past greats at Saints’ 125th anniversary dinner on Sunday, including members of the teams who reached two previous League Cup Finals.

“Seeing how well these players did for the club is extra motivation for the present squad and, despite the fact we’ve won only one league game since returning to the SPL, we’ve done well in the Co-Operative Cup.

“We netted five goals at Stenhousemuir, six at Arbroath, then three at Hibs and hope to keep that good form going tonight.”