Charlie Mulgrew savoured his first goal for Dundee United in fifteen years – but maintained keeping their Scottish League Cup quest on course still mattered most.

The former Celtic, Aberdeen and Scotland star proved the difference in Saturday’s Group B encounter with Championship visitors Arbroath as his disguised 21st minute free-kick deceived Derek Gaston and gave Tam Courts’ Premiership hopefuls a third successive victory.

Mulgrew returned recently to Tayside having enjoyed a first spell with the Tangerines on loan from Celtic back in 2006, and has been earmarked for a pivotal role in the new season which gets underway in less than a fortnight with a top-flight curtain-raiser away to Aberdeen.

The 35-year-old once more displayed his artistry from set-pieces from some distance, although was quick to emphasise that proceeding to the next round gives greater satisfaction.

”It’s a set piece we’ve worked on and we did it against Kelty,” said Mulgrew whose now preparing for tomorrow night’s tie at East Fife.

“I’m not meant to shoot. I’m meant to cross it, but I noticed the keeper was creeping a wee bit so I thought I’d have a go.

“It paid off. I caught it well and was just a bit too far for the keeper to get back.

“I knew when I hit it, I hit it well.

“So I’m delighted with it.

“I remember my last goal here fifteen years ago against Inverness. It was a similar sort of situation.

“It was a shot that was meant to be a cross and it went into the bottom corner against Mark Brown.

“I’m delighted but the most important thing is the win and we’re happy with it.

“It’s something I always look for when I’m over a free-kick.

“You probably should cross but I always look to see what the keeper’s doing.

“I back myself so I was thankful to see it go in.”

Mulgrew was just 20 when he arrived at Tannadice for the first time back in 2006.

The centre-back showed he’d lost none of his desire against Dick Campbell’s side who could easily have secured a draw given the number of chances they created, including a last-gasp Gavin Swankie close-range effort which somehow went wide of the target.

Now Mulgrew is relishing the upcoming Premiership campaign which lies ahead and aspires to help the Tangerines improve on last season when they failed to cement a top-six place.

”It’s odd but also a great feeling to be back here,” smiled Mulgrew.

“I’m happy to be here. I want to give everything I can and prove I’m still hungry.

“I want to do the best I can for this club and make sure we’re as successful as possible.

“That’s the most important thing.

“No disrespect to the teams we’ve played but we know we’ll be stepping it up a level when it comes to the Premiership.

“It’s about realising that, looking back on these games and seeing what we can do better when we do come up against these teams.

  ”We can do a lot better than we did on Saturday. We know that, but that’ll happen throughout the season.”

Mulgrew hasn’t taken long to settle back on Tayside following spells in recent seasons down south with Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Fleetwood Town.

He does, though, cite the levels of professionalism as having increased considerably since he was first at United.

“It’s changed a lot – football’s changed in general,” he said.

“For starters, we’ve got a training ground we train at every day.

“There’s sport science in place we never had at the time, fitness coaches, GPS to track your movements and sprints in games – so it’s a lot more professional now.

“The food’s a lot better!

“It’s moving forward like football is in general.”

For Arbroath, it’s Kelty Hearts next up. With three points already deposited, the Angus side have cause to believe they too can qualify, especially if Saturday’s performance can be replicated.