Morgaro Gomis has enjoyed his first family Christmas for years after his brother travelled from Paris to be with him, but his goodwill won't extend to visitors Celtic today.

Gomis, who left Montpellier to join Chelsea then had spells with Barnet, Lewes and Dagenham before winding up at Cowdenbeath, admits his family's first visit to see him in Scotland has been special.

He has been one of Dundee United's best performers this season after making the transition from the lower leagues and is desperate to show his visitors how much he's improved over the last 12 months.

"I'm looking forward to the Celtic game and even more so because I've got my brother, George, here from Paris with some of our friends to see me," he said. "If we could win the game for them it would be absolutely fantastic.

"This will be the first time my brother has come to Scotland since I joined Dundee United so it's quite a big occasion for both of us. He's here for four days so it's a good little holiday for him.

"He obviously knows a lot about the Celtic players as he's seen them playing in the Champions League and he keeps in touch all the time about the Premier League.

"I miss my family so it's nice to have them close by for this time of year and hopefully it will give me an extra boost."

Gomis struggled to make an impact in England and when he joined Cowdenbeath he knew it would probably be his last chance to make a name for himself.

"I just can't believe it, what's happened over the last 12 months has been like a dream," he added. "But I'm just happy to be here and hopefully I'll enjoy more good times. When I signed for Cowdenbeath, I was thinking that I'd maybe stay there for a year or two years to learn my trade. But after six months I was doing great and then had the chance to come to Dundee United. That was something I didn't think twice about and I've been loving every minute of it.

"When I first came here the manager said that I wasn't quite ready to play first-team football. But by the end of my first season I had played about 10 games in total."

Craig Levein, the Tannadice manager, who welcomes Lee Wilkie back from a two-game ban but still has a doubt over Christian Kalvenes, has backed his players to bounce back from their surprise 2-1 loss to Gretna on Saturday.

"They have looked really lively in training and I know they are keen to get back out on the pitch again," he said. "The lads are all in good spirits and there have been a lot of promising signs at training.

"They know they will have to give that little bit more against Celtic but everyone is focused. I am never overly-confident about getting a victory at any time but I am hopeful that we can do well in this game."

Meanwhile, United will not be moving for Colin Nish, the Kilmarnock striker.