Csaba Laszlo can remember Stephen Dobbie from his first spell in Scottish football.
The veteran forward was Queen of the South’s main man back then and he will be the “heart and brain” of Dundee’s United opponents on Saturday.
If Dobbie scores against the Tangerines on Saturday it will be his 100th goal for the Doonhamers in his two spells with the Dumfries club.
The 35-year-old already has 18 in this campaign – three of which helped Queens to an impressive 5-2 win over Dunfermline on Saturday.
And identifying their talisman at the weekend isn’t a hard job for the United boss.
“He’s a really good player,” said Laszlo.
“We’re not scared of anybody but we do need to be aware of his qualities.
“He is the heart and the brain of their team.
“He is a little bit older than when I was at Hearts but he is still an intelligent player. I remember him from then.”
Meanwhile, Laszlo is happy that Sam Stanton showed him at Morton last weekend that he has more than one string to his bow.
“Sam Stanton played a great game,” he said. “I am happy with that because Willo Flood (who missed out at Cappielow) is a big personality in our team.
“With Sam, Fyvie and Fraser we really felt we had control in the centre.
“He showed he can play in the centre for us, not just the side.
“I can’t tell you if he’ll play in centre midfield again on Saturday but it is an option.”
The hosts’ hopes of beating Championship leaders United at the weekend have been aided by securing an indoor pitch for the entire week.
Manager Gary Naysmith explained: “The area that we normally use was unusable due to the frost and ice. That was not the situation we wanted ahead of facing the league leaders however the people at Hamilton Palace have played a blinder.
“They changed a few things about and that allowed us access to an indoor area every day which has been terrific. It is not a full size pitch but it is big enough for us to do a lot of work on and it saved us panicking and looking for somewhere on a daily basis to take the players or not being able to train them before a big game.
“Dundee United will be difficult opponents and I am glad that we are able to take them on in good shape.”
