Dundee boss John Brown insists Gary Harkins will continue to be given a free role to showcase his undoubted talents even if that means a greater workload for others in the team.
The fans’ favourite was lured back to Dens Park from Kilmarnock in January, and he has quickly re-established himself as a key player for the Dark Blues.
He produced a typical piece of magic to help set up Dundee’s winning goal against St Mirren last week as his side secured their first league victory in nearly four months.
Brown admits he will not be putting the shackles on the mercurial midfielder any time soon.
He said: “Gary is blessed with great ability. I have given him a free role to take people on in the last third, but he was previously doing it in wide and deeper areas where if he got caught we could have been hit on the break.
“I don’t mind him doing that round about the opposition box, but not in areas where it could hurt us.
“He still played a big part in creating the goal that we scored, so there are very good bits, but there are others that he just has to be tidier on.
“I am not going to restrict him from doing that. It was his creative talent that helped us get the second goal against St Mirren last week, and if you put restrictions on him you will not get the best out of him.
“As long as we have workers round about him to make sure we get the ball back if he loses it, then it is all about teamwork.”