THE opposition is familiar to Colin Nish, even if he is being made to look at them a little differently.

A Scottish League Cup tie will tonight bring the forward back within striking distance of Dundee United and a place in the third round of the competition, but it is an ambition which might prove a little more difficult to trap than he remembers.

That will seem like a foible of joining a Dumbarton side for which determined effort can still be valued as highly as an assured pass this evening; the part-time team considered capable of causing an upset if not a sense of distress to United. "There is no pressure on us against them," said Nish.

Not collectively, at least. Nish might find it a little more acute, thought, given the heights he has reached in his career compared to his new team-mates; the 32-year-old alighting in the SPFL Championship following spells at Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Hartlepool United and Dundee. His time at the latter two will seem united by a sense of grief - Nish was regarded as surplus at Hartlepool and a loan move to Dens Park last season ended in relegation - but his broad frame retains a weight of experience which made a notable bump when he landed at Dumbarton. The striker then used all of it to score his first goal to aid a 3-1 win over Morton at the weekend.

Such a comfortable debut offered a cushion after dropping into the lower divisions and Nish has become comfortable enough at his new club to entrust them with a sense of belief against United. Their part-time status will always be made to seem significant when measured against haughtier clubs, but it is perhaps belied by the cumulative experience of a squad which also comprises Hugh Murray, Kevin Smith and Bryan Prunty.

"You can't really think like that, that you are only a part-time team and that you are any worse off than other teams," said Nish. "That's not going to help you. I've played in cup ties for some bigger teams and have been put out so we are quite aware of what can happen. We have got a wee bit of experience and some younger lads, but what they have in common is that they are all good players. It is the responsibility of everyone to be up for the game but we're confident."

Such a glowing commendation of the Dumbarton squad is also reflected on to Ian Murray, whose coaching career was still in infancy when he took charge last season only to seem wizened by the time he led his side to a seventh-place finish. Nish had become aware of the potential Murray had when they shared a dressing room at Easter Road, but his decision to team up again was not rooted simply in a shared past. "He doesn't want the team to stand still," said Nish. "He won't settle for second best."

It is a perspective that Nish intends to apply to his own coaching responsibilities with the under-19 side. "I am learning from Ian and from [assistant manager] Jack Ross, who is brilliant," said the striker, who took charge of his first training session last Thursday. "Three or four years ago I didn't want to [go into coaching], or at least I had never felt like I wanted to. But the older I've got, that's changed. But I needed to learn and that's what my plan was; to use part of my playing career to learn the coaching side as well."

That is something Jackie McNamara has done with notable success. After a stuttering start to the campaign, the Dundee United manager led his side to a thumping victory over St Johnstone at the weekend and wants his players to use the confidence from that win to ease through a tricky tie. "A win like the one we've just had always helps confidence, and the lads are feeling good after that," he said. "They're looking forward to the next game and it's one where we want to see a good performance and hopefully a positive result.

"We've watched them so know they're a decent side. They had a very good result against Morton last weekend. We know we will be in for a very typical cup tie. It won't be easy and we realise that, so it's up to us to go about our business well."