Tickets to ride for Arabs duo

Dundee United defenders Paul Dixon and Darren Dods will definitely be on the plane to Austria next week after working with the club's physio since the start of pre-season.

Both players missed out on the Arabs' memorable Scottish Cup final victory over Ross County in May due to injury, with left-back Dixon nursing a broken metatarsal and central defender Dods needing a cartilage operation.

And while neither is yet back in full training they are nevertheless progressing well towards rejoining the rest of their colleagues.

Manager Peter Houston has already confirmed that both will be on the plane to Austria for the week-long training camp, although he is yet to decide whether they will be involved in either of the games scheduled over there.

"They`ve been working with the physio and he assures me they`ll be ready to play by next week, so that`s good news," he told the Evening Telegraph.

"Both of them have been working hard over the summer and I`ve been watching them training. They haven`t been with the rest of the boys, but they haven`t been holding back.

"My one thing is there is still a good while until the season starts, so I don`t have to rush them and, if I`ve any concerns, I won`t use them in the games in Austria," he continued.

Houston must also make a decision on Scott Robertson, who did manage to make an appearance from the bench at Hampden.

"Scott`s another one who`s been working hard over the summer and he was playing again by the end of last season," he added.

"He was not ready for 90 minutes, though, and I don`t want to push him too hard. Having said that, he`s done all the work so far in training."

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