JACKIE McNAMARA last night praised super sub Ryan Dow for helping steer Dundee United to back-to-back cup finals for the first time since the Jim McLean era and spoke of his hope that it will be Rangers, and not his former club Celtic, who join them in the League Cup final on Sunday March 15.

The United boss, whose side booked their place in the Hampden showpiece with a 2-1 victory against their New Firm rivals Aberdeen, feels the Parkhead side will be too strong for their Glasgow rivals this lunchtime even if the soft, cloying turf he witnessed at the national stadium only enhances the likelihood of Rangers springing a surprise.

With McNamara at the helm, United have triumphed twice in cup competitions against the Ibrox club on their journey back through the divisions, both times on Scottish Cup duty - a 3-1 semi-final win at Ibrox last season, and a 3-0 fifth round triumph at Tannadice in February 2013.

"I don't know about that," said McNamara, when asked if he would become a Rangers fan for the day. "I'll be watching it in the house, and I do feel that Celtic will win it. If Rangers were to win it would be one of the biggest shocks for a while. The pitch might level things out a wee bit. But I think Celtic will be too strong in terms of their fitness and their quality going forward."

"I would possibly [prefer to get Rangers]," he added. "I've got a good record against them if that's the case - a semi-final and a fifth round game. I've played them twice in management and won twice. But they've come up the leagues both times as well. I'm just delighted to be there."

Whoever United face in the final, which follows on from the disappointment of last year's Scottish Cup defeat to St Johnstone, they will do so without the services of Nadir Ciftci, the man whose close range header - amid claims of offside - settled this tie. He is suspended after picking up his second booking of the competition, and McNamara refused to confirm last night whether Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, both of whom performed creditably yesterday, would also still be around to take part.

Celtic, their possible opponents in the March final, are likely to make further bids to take both players to Parkhead before the transfer window closes at 11pm tomorrow, with Armstrong also thought to be a target for Barclays Premier League outfit Burnley. While his own side's chances of cup glory would clearly be diminished if either left, no guarantees were forthcoming from McNamara last night.

"I don't know," said McNamara. "There's that much speculation [about Armstrong] but we don't need to sell him. Every club has a price though and that will be outwith my hands. You have to weigh up everything. The timescale, with 18 months on his contract, the fact this summer he's going into his last year, same as Nadir. It's important to mention that last November we managed to get Stuart and Nadir to sign extensions. If we hadn't we'd have been losing both them and Gary Mackay Steven for nothing in the summer.

"It's just great for everybody that we've got to another final so soon after the disappointments in the summer," he added. "Ryan Dow was the difference in the game when he came on. His energy in behind won us the game."

For Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes, there was only misery after the club's sixth successive Hampden defeat. Not only did he feel that referee Steven McLean was wrong to disallow an Adam Rooney goal while the match stood at 1-1, apparently for a push in the penalty box, Ciftci could well have notched the game's winning goal from an offside position.

"My first reaction to Rooney's goal was that it was fine but the referee seemed adamant there was a push in the build up," said McInnes. "I thought the reaction of the United players said a lot, I didn't think there was anything in it. Whether Ciftci's offside or not I don't know, people have told me he was, but I didn't think so at the time. We should dealt with it better. It was a scrappy goal to go out of a cup semi-final."