Dundee United spent Monday night at a hotel in the Highlands in preparation for their crunch League Cup quarter-final against Inverness.
Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson sanctioned the expenditure in acknowledgement of just how important this game is to the club.
United, like everyone else left in the competition, see this as a real chance of securing silverware this season, with Celtic and Rangers already out of the cup.
United boss Jackie McNamara, who steered his side to a thumping 4-0 win over St Mirren at the weekend, thanked Thompson for financing the hotel stay and said: “It is a massive game for us. If we can get through this it will be a big boost for everybody at the club.
“It will be the same for Inverness, a chance to get through to the semi-final. It is a great opportunity.
“However, we know how difficult it is going to be up there. They have only lost one game at home this season and they were unfortunate to do so against Thistle.Visit www.thecourier.co.uk tonight for live updates from United’s League Cup quarter-final“They beat us earlier in the season and they are a very physical team.
“They work well as a unit so we will have to show the same intensity and commitment right through the team and hopefully everyone has a good game again.
“We didn’t give St Mirren a moment’s peace on Saturday, pressurising them from the back to the middle and made things really difficult for them. So we are capable of matching any opposition.”
McNamara rang the changes against the Buddies, with skipper Sean Dillon and Keith Watson being rested while David Goodwillie and Stuart Armstrong were on the bench.
Brian Graham, Gary Mackay-Steven, Mark Wilson and John Souttar were drafted in to the starting line-up and McNamara admitted they had given him a lot of food for thought with regards to who to pick against Inverness.
The manager added: “We shuffled things about a bit on Saturday. It is important that the ones who come in do well and give me sleepless nights over selection.
“It isn’t just about the starting XI. We will only have four outfield subs on Tuesday night and we need to get that right as well.”
See further pre-match build-up in Tuesday’s Courier or try our digital edition.