Jim Goodwin could have a big selection decision to make against Greenock Morton after Craig Sibbald returned to training ahead of schedule.
The influential midfielder has been battling his way back to fitness after suffering ankle ligament damage last month.
Sibbald had been expected to be out for another fortnight but is now training with his team-mates again and Goodwin will weigh up whether to risk the 28-year-old in his side’s Championship clash with Morton at Tannadice.
The manager said last night: “Craig Sibbald has made great progress, he’s two weeks ahead of where we thought he would be.
“He’s joined back in with the group and has done some training, so we’ll have a look at him ahead of the weekend.
“He’s pushed himself hard to get back so credit to him and to the medical team for getting to this stage so quickly.
“We will have a chat with the medical team after training tomorrow, see where he’s at and if it’s worth the risk.
“The lads in there have done well. Jordan Tillson came in last weekend and Declan Glass has been excellent.
“So even if Sibbs is available I’m not saying he would take their jersey straight away.
“But it’s great to have him back and have that option again.”
Table-topping United will look to extend their seven-match unbeaten run against Morton.
The Terrors have kept clean sheets in six of those matches with Scotland international Declan Gallagher one of the main reasons behind that defensive solidity.
And Goodwin admitted he knew exactly what he would be getting from the big centre-half when he signed him in July on a two-year deal.
The Tannadice gaffer added: “Declan has been great since he came in, he was one of the best centre-halves in the Premiership from a defensive point of view last season.
“He was influential in getting them into the top six.
“I worked with him at Aberdeen and you could argue it was possibly a mistake to let him go in hindsight.
“But we left on good terms and I was delighted to get him when he became available.
“He’s won this league a couple of times, he’s a Scotland international too so we always knew what we were getting.
“He’s a leader, an organiser and along with Kevin Holt they’ve struck up what could be the best partnership in the league.”
Tomorrow’s game will see Goodwin reunited with a former team-mate, Morton boss Dougie Imrie, with the United manager admitting he would never have guessed they would one day end up in opposing dug-outs.
Goodwin said: “I played with Dougie at Hamilton when I was there for a few months and then he came to St Mirren.
“If you’d told me back in the day when we were team-mates we would be opposing managers one day I wouldn’t have believed it.
“He was a great guy in the dressing-room, daft as a brush at times and always up for a laugh. I was a bit more serious.
“Dougie has clearly matured well over the years since and has done brilliantly, he’s worked hard to get where he is.
“At Morton he has much more limited resources than what we have here but they did very well last season.
“Given the run of form we are on and they are on, people will think it’s a foregone conclusion but we certainly don’t.
“They will win a game and we will lose a game so for us we hope it’s not this weekend. We will have to be at our best.”
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