For Kevin McDonald, it all started at Dens Park — a fresh-faced, bleach blonde midfielder making a name for himself in the old First Division.
Seventeen years after his Dee debut, the Dark Blues afforded McDonald the platform to train and rebuild his fitness as he recuperated from a life-threatening kidney transplant.
The allegiances of McDonald’s friends and family are liberally split across both sides of Tannadice Street.
As such, United star McDonald will never have a negative word to say about Dundee.
He will, of course, relish every moment of an intense, inimitable occasion — but acrimony can be cast aside.
“I’m 33 years of age and, after everything I’ve been through, I’d never say a bad word about Dundee, even as a United player,” said McDonald, who made 106 appearances for the Dee.
“That is where my journey started and I’ll always be grateful. I’ve played in plenty of derbies but this one is different, given the circumstances.
“Dundee were the first club I trained with after my [kidney] operation, as I considered what was next.
“James McPake was the manager at the time and he was brilliant with me; all the boys were great. I owe them a massive thanks.
“The same goes for St Johnstone, who allowed me to train and build my fitness, getting to a point where I could say, ‘right, let’s see where we are’.”
Friendships on hold
Indeed, the former Fulham and Scotland midfielder, who hails from Carnoustie, will achieve a lifelong goal on Saturday if he lines up against Dundee at Tannadice.
“I’ve never played in a competitive Dundee derby so that will be special,” he continued.
“All of my friends are either Dundee United or Dundee fans so there’s always that extra banter and extra rivalry in the build-up. It will be a great atmosphere through the whole city and I hope it’s a cracking spectacle.
“I’ve got a huge respect for everyone at Dundee but those friendships are irrelevant for 90 minutes.
“We’ve got to put emotion to one side and understand that three very important points are at stake.”
The race for Europe
Even a solitary point would see Dundee United secure top-six qualification for Tam Courts’ men.
That would represent a solid achievement for the Tangerines in their second season back in the Premiership.
Yet, a slight tinge of exasperation persists for McDonald.
“Honestly, it’s frustrating that we even need to get something from the derby to finish in the top-six,” McDonald told Courier Sport.
“It’s been there for us for weeks and we’ve not taken three points often enough. Too many draws. If we had turned just one of those draws into wins, we’d already be in there.”
Should United get the job done — and it would take a remarkable sequence of results for them to slip out of the top half of the table on Saturday — then attention will turn to a mouth-watering race for Europe.
Tannadice has not hosted continental competition since 2012 and, with consistency in short supply among those fighting for fourth spot, there is a golden opportunity to grasp that place.
“Although there is that frustration about some dropped points, we have ultimately put ourselves in a good position,” added McDonald. “With Europe on offer, we are playing for fourth place — albeit plenty of teams will be saying the same.”
