PAUL Dixon is in the footballing equivalent of the waiting room.
Just as his pals Craig Conway, Morgaro Gomis and Prince Buaben did last season, the Dundee United full-back has reluctantly accepted he will move on from Tannadice this summer after four years at the club he supported as a boy. Although today's William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final opponents Celtic have previously been credited with an interest, England is his most likely destination, with Derby County manager Nigel Clough reported to have checked him out during last Monday's victory against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Not that the 25-year-old is idly marking time as he waits for his big move. Not only does the Aberdeen-born player have the incentive to put himself in the shop window, few, if any, members of the Tannadice squad have as much reason to want a Scottish Cup victory at Hampden this May. Having featured in every round right up to the semi-final in 2012, Dixon spent the weeks leading up to the final in an oxygen chamber, vainly attempting to recuperate from a broken toe. There are photos of him larking around in celebration at full-time with his foot in a cast, but suffice to say the club's moment of glory didn't turn out as he had envisaged.
"I popped into a therapy centre in Dundee, asked if I could use it, paid for a block of 10 hour-long treatments and went for it," Dixon said. "It gets more oxygen into your system to help the healing process, but I was a mile short in the end. I had an X-ray the week before the final and it showed the bone still hadn't even knitted. I suppose I was in denial but I had to give myself a chance, and I felt better for trying.
"On the day of the final it hit me after the game in the changing room when I was watching the boys celebrating," he added. "I just felt so down, it was horrible – I was sitting there with my big plastic boot on. I had played every game up to then and I came off in the semi-final after about 15 minutes because I couldn't run any more. It still felt good to see the boys lift the cup and it was great for the fans. I went out and celebrated with one shoe on! But on a personal level it was disappointing. It would be nice to get back there and hopefully get a winner's medal."
Dixon feels ready now for a move south, unlike seven years ago when Jim Duffy tried to take him as a teenager from Dundee to Norwich. "England does appeal to me," Dixon said. "I have had four years now in the SPL and three years in the First Division before that so I think it's time. I would like to take the next step and go and test myself in a new league and a new country and see how I do. I keep in contact with the boys down south and they have all done very well for themselves. I knew they could cut the mustard and they have. That makes me want to be a part of it and hopefully get some of that success myself."
Dixon's career is undoubtedly waiting for the great leap forward. Despite being one of the most reliable left-backs in the league – he has eight assists this term, only two behind SPL leader Steven Davis – it is still a source of mystery that he has failed to represent Scotland. The player was actually named in his former club boss Craig Levein's first squad, only to be stripped and ready to come on against the Czech Republic when the final whistle sounded, then only last week he would have been the man to replace Alan Hutton in the squad for the match against Slovenia had he not turned his ankle in a gym session and seen that place go to Ricky Foster of Bristol City.
"I didn't know I had been called up until the manager [Peter Houston] came back from Slovenia on Thursday," Dixon said. "I think he had phoned Gary [Kirk, the United coach], but Gary told him I had just injured myself. So rather than make me feel worse, they didn't tell me until the manager came back. Maybe somebody's telling me it's not quite my turn yet. But it is comforting to know I'm at least in the manager's thoughts."
It is rare indeed that provincial Scottish sides beat both halves of the Old Firm in the same compet-ition – Hibs managed it in the 2004 CIS Cup, only to lose to Livingston in the final – but that is the task which faces Dundee United today. Dixon has been linked with the Parkhead club periodically during his time at Tannadice, but is always scrupulous about ignoring the speculation. He said: "I always tell my agent to tell me at the end of the season because I don't want the distraction."
Victory today and his agent's phone will be red hot.
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