With Premiership business attended to for now Sean Dillon could, following Saturday's win over Motherwell, turn his attention to next weekend's QTS League Cup semi-final confident that his team will be ready whatever the final week of the transfer window brings and he was keen to remind them of the opportunity that looms.

Dundee United's captain did have a brief moment on Saturday when he feared he might not be fit to lead them out at Hampden on Saturday after suffering a painful shoulder injury in playing his part in preventing his team from going behind to Motherwell late in Saturday's first half at Tannadice.

However he recovered fully to finish the match and was in good spirits afterwards as he allowed himself to look ahead to Saturday's meeting with Aberdeen and a return to the national stadium at the first opportunity following their Scottish Cup final defeat to St Johnstone in May.

"It's a huge game and an opportunity to play in another cup final," he said.

"Some of the lads who were involved in May I'm sure will use it as motivation, but for me it's just another semi-final, another massive opportunity to get to a cup final and you just never know when your last one is going to be, no matter what age you are."

How much such considerations could influence the thinking of Stuart Armstrong or others who could be targeted in the final week of the transfer window, is moot, but after United made seven changes to their starting line-up and claimed another win to get within three points of the Dons in what is still surely the battle for second place in the Premiership, Dillon seemed relatively unperturbed by the prospect of departures.

Naturally he said he hoped the current group would still be together by next weekend, but the way strength in depth is generated and maintained at Tannadice inevitably breeds confidence that they will cope whatever happens.

"That's the way it has been since I've been here," said the 31-year-old Irishman who has now been at the club for eight years.

"Every season or every summer and January, people ask the same questions and thankfully it has been good to say: 'Well, such and such a fella has come in and has stepped up' and the next fella has come in and eventually he gets a move or there's talk of him getting a move and that's great for the boys. It just seems to be the way it is.

"Obviously, fellas have come in when they're young and they're involved in the first team squad and there are lads who have come up through the youth system with Steve Campbell and Dave Bowman looking after them there are always players coming through. It's a good mix and the gaffer and his staff and scouting system is working because he's getting some good young lads in and then you've got the academy lads coming through as well."

It was, however, the teenager who was previously nurtured at Murray Park before controversially being allowed to leave Rangers last summer, who turned things United's way on Saturday as Charlie Telfer showed the composure of a veteran in registering both the badly needed opener 63 minutes in and the match-clinching third goal in injury time.

Prior to that Dillon's intervention had taken enough pace off John Sutton's first half attempt on goal to let Callum Morris hook the ball clear as it was crossing the line and while the home skipper admitted to getting a brief but serious fright, such was the sharpness of the jolt to his shoulder as he and the striker hit the ground, it was the visitors who suffered the more lasting pain.

Already unhappy that what they considered a stonewall penalty had been turned down, they were bewildered by the decision of next weekend's Old Firm referee to award the goal then rescind that decision once he realised he had misunderstood his linesman, but by his refusal to allow them to contest the drop ball that re-started the game thereafter inside the United penalty area.

For by no means the first time this season, however, it was encouraging to hear one of those who were entitled to feel aggrieved choosing to show understanding for fellow professionals in the sport rather than lambasting officials for mistakes as Sutton did afterwards.

""Hopefully he'll have a better time of things then," he said of Thomson's imminent involvement in Sunday's potentially incendiary encounter between Celtic and Rangers.

"It's a difficult job anyway. You wouldn't have Sunday football or anything like that or professional football without them.

"It just so happens that today things went against us, but hopefully in the next game we won't be talking about the referee or the linesman, we'll be talking about football."