Dundee United boss Peter Houston will have no complaints if Rangers use the appeals procedure to allow Kevin Thomson to play in Wednesday night's Scottish Cup quarter-final replay.

Thomson was sent off during Sunday's Co-operative Insurance Cup final win over St Mirren, but if manager Walter Smith appeals, the Scotland midfielder could be eligible to play at Tannadice. And, with Scottish Football Association rules dictating that Rangers can appeal up to three days after the match, they could lodge the papers hours before the Tannadice kick-off.

"If I was in the same situation I might well use it (the appeals procedure). The rules are there to be used,"said Houston.

"If they appeal it then they obviously think they've got a good chance. They're just using what has been put in place by the SFA so we'll have to wait and see."

United were incensed with the two penalty awards which went against them in the first tie but Houston is happy with referee Dougie McDonald taking charge of the replay.

He said: "The penalty decisions are over and done with. I was pleased with the character of our players to come back and earn a replay.

"I've said publicly that I regard Dougie McDonald as an honest referee. I don't expect any different from him so in my eyes he'll go and referee in a similar way.

"If he does that then I've got to trust his decisions will be good enough for both teams."