This time next year Gary Mackay-Steven hopes to be gainfully employed with a suitable club south of the border.

However, the exciting Dundee United winger wants to have a winners' medal of some sort in his hand before he departs in search of a new challenge.

Mackay-Steven, a favourite with fans of the Tannadice side, confirmed yesterday that he would, indeed, leave the club he joined three years ago and at which he has established himself as a star turn in the SPFL Premiership. That has followed a stop-start career which has taken him from Ross County to Liverpool and from Fulham to Airdrie United.

He has watched Ryan Gauld and Andrew Robertson move from the United stable to bigger stages with Sporting Lisbon and Hull City respectively and, at 24, believes he can cut it at a higher level.

"I have loved my time here and will give everything for United until the end of the season," said Mackay-Steven, fresh from providing the corner kick for team-mate Jaroslaw Fojut to head the goal which knocked Dundee out of the League Cup on Wednesday night. "But ultimately I want to play my football down in England and I want to move on and do that at the end of the season.

"But before that I want to win something. This United team is capable of winning something and I want to be part of that before I go."

The Tannadice side clinched their League Cup third-round win in stoppage time against their city rivals, a side depleted by the ordering off of Martin Boyle - albeit a controversial decision by referee Craig Thomson - just before half an hour had been played. Mackay-Steven recognised that Dundee would have been left in despair by such a late goal.

"It was a great way to win the derby, especially after the game being so tight," he added. "I'd imagine it was a sickener for them but our dressing-room was very happy. I get stick from the Dundee fans, but our fans give it to their guys as well, it's part of the occasion.

"When you're getting pelters from the stand it makes it all the sweeter when you win the game. It's part of the game and is enjoyable when that happens. We're in the quarter-finals now [against Hibernian at Easter Road], so we're still in with the same shout as everyone else."

Meanwhile, James McPake, the Dundee centre-back and part of a stoic visiting defence on Wednesday, admitted he played on with an in jury, determined to play his part in what turned out an heroic defeat.

McPake insisted, too, that he and his team-mates were proud of their performance against a side which had beaten them 4-1 in the league three days earlier. "The performance was night and day from Sunday's," he said. "You could see the reaction of our fans; every one of them stayed behind at the end.

"They were disappointed we were not progressing in the cup but they saw the way we played, especially with 10 men. It was credit to every one of us. It was a hard one to take but we gave a good account of ourselves and we move on to Ross County this weekend.

"I don't know how I lasted. It was probably my stupidity in wanting to stay on. It was a dead leg, so you know if you can keep the heat in it you'll be okay. I wasn't going to ask to come off; that's not in my character."