Dillon insists friendship will go out the window in white heat of New Firm clash

"I was delighted for Willo," said Dillon, whose own big Parkhead day out, the Scottish Cup final in May, ended only in a convincing defeat to St Johnstone. "He's a good friend of mine and you're always happy to see your friends do well, but not against you. When we play them, it is business. He'll tell you the same thing. Friendship goes out the window when you're on the park. When it's over you have a chat about it and that's that.

"It's obviously nice when you're involved in cup finals," the Irishman added, "but when you're sitting there watching somebody else celebrate, it gives you a reminder of when you've done it. It gives you that hunger. That little bit extra. You shouldn't need any more of a push, but it reminds you of what it was like. I thought that was a good thing, but unfortunately, when our cup final came around in May, it didn't go the way we wanted it to."

Both Dillon and Flood were United players the last time these two sides met in the cup competitions, as it so happens a League Cup semi-final back in early 2008. Indeed, with both carrying knocks, Dillon replaced Flood at right back as United ran away to a 4-1 victory at neutral Tynecastle, en route to a hugely unfortunate defeat to Rangers on penalties. "It was perfect - for those who started," recalled Dillon. "I was injured that day, Willo was struggling too, but he played right-back. Tynecastle is such a tight ground, with a great atmosphere, and obviously the fact we won made it great for us, but you remember them more when you start the match."

It wasn't so long ago that using the phrase New Firm was to invite ridicule but, title challenge or not, these two teams have emerged as the most robust of the rest in this uncertain era. United were Scottish Cup winners as recently as 2010, and one of the two will be assured of reaching their second final in successive seasons. "Personally, I've always felt it's a big game whenever we play Aberdeen, home or away," said Dillon. "Listening to fans and people around the place, they always tell you how big it is, so I don't really see it as any different just because things are going a bit better now."

There is a temptation for United to dwell on last May's disappointment, but manager Jackie McNamara would prefer to look forward. "Once you have a taste of something, the lads are disappointed as we all are as club not to win it," he said. "But for me, it's not about revenge. Last year doesn't come into it, it's this year that matters. The League Cup is the first one we can win, so rather than looking at the past I look at what's ahead."

McInnes and McNamara are a similar age and get on well together but the similarities between their two sides only go so far. "We are different clubs altogether," said McNamara. "Like myself, Derek's gone in there and you inherit debt. His debt is gone, but not by selling players! We lost two youngsters in the summer but their younger ones are [Peter] Pawlett and [Ryan] Jack. They have been consistent with a good winning mentality to them, with lots of 1-0s. He's maybe learned a lot of that side of it from Walter Smith."

Rather than a return trip to Tynecastle, this time around enough tickets have been sold to justify the match being played at Hampden. Dillon, whose future at the club after seven years this summer remains uncertain, is doing more than his bit to boost the attendance. "I've got my ma and my da over, obviously my wife Michelle and son Shea will go down, and my uncle and my auntie are coming over too," Dillon said. "They're my ma's brother and sister, they like their football. And, of course, my mad uncle in Glasgow will be down watching it as well."