Craig Conway has been kicked all over Tannadice and now he wants to put the boot into Inverness Caley Thistle as the Tangerines switch from European football to the SPL.
The winger was targeted for special treatment from the AEK Athens players as United lost their Europa League play-off round first leg tie on Thursday.
That back-handed compliment shown to the Scottish Cup hero by the Greeks came on top of fresh interest being shown in him from the English Championship, this time from Derby County.
All thoughts of that 1-0 setback, the return in Athens next week or a possible move down south will be put to one side when the premier league’s newly-promoted team visit on league business.
Conway will be hoping that he will get greater protection this time than he received from Croatian whistler Marijo Strahonja the other night.
“I took a few kicks but I didn’t get much to show for it,” said Conway.
“I don’t know if I was targeted but I have been accused of going down easily before and I certainly didn’t do that.
“If I leave my leg in I have a broken leg or get completely taken out. Sometimes when you ride a tackle you know what’s coming so have no choice.
“I didn’t get much protection from the ref but that’s what happens in Europe so I just need to get used to it.
“In fact, I was probably lucky not to get sent off because I had already been booked and then he thought I dived.
“It seemed there was nothing else for him to do because if he didn’t give me a foul and thought I dived then he surely had to send me off.
“I don’t want to go on about it, though, as we might get him again next week!”
That there was a plan of action to quell Conway was hinted at by AEK’s Australian player Nathan Burns.
“I thought Conway stood out,” he said.
“He was very dangerous on the ball and always posed a threat coming inside on to his right foot.
“For sure we will need to keep a close eye on him again in the return leg because he was quite impressive and he can certainly deliver good crosses.”
Conway made it clear, however, that he was not blaming the referee or the opposition for his team’s failings against the classy Athenians.
“I was gutted and disappointed, to be honest, because we played all right in spells but probably didn’t create as many chances as we should have done,” he added.
“It was not the referee’s fault that we should have played better than we did.
“I think, especially in the second half, shooting down the hill, we should have got more bodies forward.
“Maybe there were nerves with it being Europe but I think we learned a lot.
“It is only 1-0 and we have to try to get something over there If it were 1-1 we would have to score anyway.
“If you had a lead to protect you may go out there and put 10 men behind the ball.
“But I think we can score a couple of goals against them. It will be a hard task but I think we can do it.
“We need to be more attack-minded and come out of our shell a bit more.
“I am still looking forward to going to Athens, though. We are still in it at 1-0 down.
“Losing the goal has made it a real uphill task but it’s gone now and we have to go for it in Greece.
“The pressure is completely off us as their fans will be expecting them to win the tie easily now.”
As for his name being linked with first Middlesbrough and now Derby, Conway is remaining above it all.
“I think it has dragged on for that long that I am used to it now,” he said.
“I just forget about it. At the end of the day I am playing here and that is what I am focusing on.
“Throughout pre-season I was maybe thinking about what was going to happen but no bid has been made so it’s just speculation.”
Of more immediate concern, of course, is tomorrow’s encounter with ICT.
“We now have a big game on Sunday,” said Conway.
“I watched Inverness on TV against Celtic and although they lost I thought, especially in the first half, they did really well.
“It will be a tough game but I think we have to start winning at home.
“We did all right away at St Mirren last week but we have to make Tannadice a fortress because we weren’t great here at times last year.”
It was not just Conway who came out of the AEK match with bumps and bruises as left-back Paul Dixon suffered a head knock during the first half but managed to play on.
Manager Peter Houston may be tempted to rest one or two of his players, given the effort they put into the match.
Inverness new boy Gil Blumenshtein will definitely miss out.
The 19-year-old only lasted 17 minutes on his SPL debut against Celtic last weekend after tearing a calf muscle and will be out for about four weeks.
Club captain Richie Foran is still out with a knee injury and defender Chris Innes serves the final match of a two-game ban.
Manager Terry Butcher is still confident his men can get their league campaign off and running.
“We have played the team that finished second (Celtic) and now face United, who were third last season, so it’s a fantastic test for us,” he said.
“Playing against top clubs makes you raise your game, as was the case last weekend, but we have had a look at the Celtic game and sat down to discuss what we did well and what we didn’t.”
“We went to the city of Dundee last season but this time it is different and we are back in the big time on the other side of the road so it is exciting.”
Butcher, who sent assistant boss Maurice Malpas to spy on his old side against AEK, knows the Highlanders boast a good record at Tannadice, having lost on just three out of their last nine visits.
“Dundee United is a game everyone should relish. We had good memories of going down there 18 months ago and with Eric Odhiambo scoring in a 1-1 draw that day.
“Eric played on loan at United from Leicester before he came to us so he knows about the club as do Maurice and I. I think Maurice was there for about 120 years and was in with the bricks.
“We know that United can do lots of things and are a strong side.
“They have people like Craig Conway who is a very strong player and can deliver good balls into the box so we know we have our work cut out, but I don’t think we should fear anybody.”