Brian Graham dreams of emulating his close pal John Baird by hitting the back of the net in a cup final.
The Tangerines striker was in the stands at Easter Road last month to see Baird pop up to score what proved to be an unforgettable winner against Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup.
Now, Graham is hoping to achieve something similar with United in the Scottish Cup final against St Johnstone at Celtic Park.
Graham said: “Bairdy is a close mate of mine. I was playing golf with him earlier in the week. We were having a bit of crack about the cup final.
“I was there that day when he scored the winner against Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup final. You just saw the joy on his face and his family’s faces. It was unbelievable.
“I was delighted for him and he’s still buzzing and riding high. I’ve got him a ticket for the cup final so he’s going to be there.
“Now hopefully I can score a goal in the cup final like he did.”
Graham added: “I would love to make my own family proud. I’ve got a big family. I’m from Barmulloch in Glasgow so it will just be like a home tie.”
Before the big day on May 17, there is still league business to be concluded starting this afternoon up in Inverness.
And Graham insisted the United players will not be losing focus with everyone determined to force their way into manager Jackie McNamara’s cup final starting line-up.
Graham said: “We had a great result beating Motherwell 5-1 last weekend. The last time we went to Inverness we won 5-0 so they might be looking to get a wee bit of revenge on us for that.
“But we can’t look too far ahead of ourselves. We want to get as far up the league as possible before thinking of the cup final. We want to qualify for Europe through the league.
“That would be great if we could do that so there’s that extra incentive as far as we’re concerned knowing we can also do it through the cup final.”
He added: “There’s great competition for places at the club. If I get the chance then I’ve got to show what I can do. I’ll be trying my hardest to get into the team.
“You never know what can happen if you keep training hard over the next couple of weeks. You’ve got to go and produce the goods when you get the opportunity come Saturday. Then, that way, you can see what happens.
“Cup finals are cup finals. Everybody obviously looks forward to them. I’m no different so I’ll be giving it my best shot.”
Graham scored an incredible 27 goals for Raith last season but has netted 20 fewer in what has proved to be a stop-start campaign for United, with Nadir Ciftci ahead of him in the pecking order.
The player would have liked more chances to shine but says he is more than happy at the club.
Graham added: “I think overall I’ve coped really well in my first season in the SPFL. I have enjoyed it and haven’t felt out of place. The manager obviously can’t play everyone.
“You train during the week with a view to playing on a Saturday and, from my point of view, I haven’t played enough. But whenever I’ve had the chance, I feel as though I’ve done well.
“There’s obviously Nadir who plays in my position but I get on well with him. We’ve got a really good dressing-room where everyone gets on fine.”