Dundee’s chances of playing a top-flight game against Celtic in America have received an unexpected boost in the shape of the new Challenge Cup format.
A revamp of the lower league knockout competition for next season has seen the SPFL give the go ahead for Scottish clubs to potentially play competitive games on foreign soil.
Two teams each from the Welsh Premier League and Northern Ireland League will join the competition in October.
That would appear to suggest traditional objections to the staging games on foreign soil no longer apply.
The Dark Blues are well down the road to firming up a Premiership clash with Celtic in Philadelphia next season but have still to seek the green light from the SPFL.
But the fact the ruling body have themselves devised a format that will include teams playing outside their own country in what essentially remains a domestic cup, has to help Dundee’s cause when they do apply.
The new-look Challenge Cup will also see U/20 teams from the Premiership take part.
That opens up the possibility of an bizarre city derby that would see Dundee United’s first team face Dundee’s U/20s.
As as a Championship club, the Tangerines will not kick-off their campaign until the third round in early September.
The top-flight U/20 teams are included in the draw for the first round, to be played in August.
The outfits from Northern Ireland and Wales do not join up until the fourth-round ties in October.
That means they need only win three games to reach the final.
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