Dundee boss Gordon Chisholm hopes to add another five players to his squad before the season begins.
Chisholm is running the rule over half a dozen trialists, including former Dundee United and St Mirren midfielder Stephen O’Donnell, defender Scott Buist and ex-Celtic youngster Nicky Riley.
And he will use closed-doors games against Hibs in Edinburgh tomorrow and MK Dons in St Andrews on Saturday to determine who, if any, of these should be offered terms.
“I only have 13 outfield players at the moment and ideally I would like to bring another five in,” said Chisholm.
“We have six trialists at the moment with two more due to join us. I’ve also had calls from boys wanting to come in. So we’ll look at all our options.
“The lads already here will be wanting an indication of where they stand and I need to make decisions.
“So we’ll use these two matches against good standard opposition to form views.”
Keeper John Gibson, who spent last term on loan at Elgin City, is again in demand from lower-league sides.
“We’ve had three or four clubs on asking about taking John on loan,” said Chisholm.
“But whether we allow him away depends on Rab Douglas.
“Big Rab is making good progress after his injury and we’re hopeful he’ll be ready for the start of the season.
“But if John does go we’ll insist on a 24-hour callback option, because we don’t want to be left short like last season when Rab Geddes had to step in.”