Dundee boss Paul Hartley admits the club will be running with a tight squad this season however, there is one area of the team where he has an abundance of riches – midfield.
That department was already staffed by Gary Harkins, Nick Ross, Nicky Low and Paul McGowan, with the latter two currently recuperating from surgery.
Now, the manager has also added Danny Williams and James Vincent from Inverness as well as Mark O’Hara from Kilmarnock into the mix.
Factor in teenager Calvin Colquhoun who played three times at the end of last season and it is obvious that competition for midfield places will be fierce.
Hartley initially revealed where he envisages the former Inverness duo featuring for the Dark Blues, saying: “I see Williams playing off the left.
“He is versatile down that side but he can play through the middle also and has good quality.
“Vincent will be more of an attacking midfielder for us. He is somebody who can get into the box.
“We felt we lacked goals from the middle of the park last year so he gives us options.”
Hartley added: “Paul McGowan will probably sit out the League Cup so there are places up for grabs.
“I think it is who performs best in pre-season.
“We want to have a tight squad this season – we won’t have a big group.
“We will probably work with 20 to 21 players.
“I don’t think there is any point having five or six players sitting it out every week.
“That just causes you more problems.
“So the group will be tight but we had a real spirit and togetherness last season and hopefully we will have that again.”
While Hartley has enough midfielders to give him a nice selection problem, he is currently still trying to bolster his defensive options by bringing in another centre-half.
While that search continues, Hartley revealed that he is looking to revert to a back four this season after experimenting with a three in the last campaign.
He added: “I think we will be flexible.
“We will look at starting with a back four. There will be a lot of work on that in pre-season.
“We will probably start the campaign with that and then look at the system after that.
“But we will concentrate on working with a four this season.”
