Dundee boss James McPake was pleased with his side’s performance in their final pre-season warm-up as they drew 2-2 with West Ham.
The Dark Blues led 2-0 thanks to goals from Charlie Adam and Paul McMullan before being pegged back by Jamal Baptiste and Jarrod Bowen.
McPake says the step up in opposition will stand his side in good stead ahead of their return to the Premiership.
However, there was concern for striker Danny Mullen after he limped off with an ankle injury.
Mullen missed Tuesday’s win over Leyton Orient and lasted only eight minutes against the Hammers.
The play-off goal hero went down with a cry following an Angelo Ogbonna challenge and left Dens Park on crutches.
Mullen played a key role in Dundee’s promotion run last term and losing him for the start of the season would be a blow for the Dark Blues.
McPake said: “The only disappointment was Danny Mullen’s injury.
“We thought we had got through pre-season injury free but we’ll get that scanned.
“With a bit of luck it’s not too bad.”
🎥 | Charlie Adam's opener #thedee pic.twitter.com/v0TqMtxlnt
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) July 9, 2021
Preparing for step up
Dundee’s three pre-season matches have come against Scottish League Two, English League Two and now Premier League opposition.
And Dens boss McPake says the step up in quality gave his side the perfect warm-up ahead of their return to the Premiership.
“We are going up a level,” he added.
“No disrespect to the Championship but we’re going up a pretty big gulf in class in league terms.
“We need to be ready for that and playing West Ham will have helped.
“They are a very good team, we saw their quality and the problems they can cause you.
“West Ham caused us a lot of problems and that’s good because we need to find ways to deal with that.
“We’ll get asked a lot more questions in the Premiership this season than we did in the Championship.
“I thought the players were excellent and they have been since the first day of pre-season.
“It is about fitness but you want good performances and to see what you’ve been working on.”
Trialists
The Dark Blues finished with two trialists on the park in Luton Town’s Corey Panter and goalkeeper Shaun MacDonald.
Panter has been training with Dundee over the past fortnight as the club consider a loan move for the defender.
Twenty-four-year-old MacDonald, meanwhile, is a free agent after leaving Torquay United at the end of last season.
McPake said: “We are just monitoring him.
“We need another goalkeeper and a couple in different areas of the pitch.
“It is an area we are working on but there are a couple of options.”
Former Celtic and St Johnstone man Cillian Sheridan is also training with Dundee with a view to earning a contract.
The 32-year-old striker wasn’t involved against West Ham but trained alongside Jason Cummings on the morning of the game.
McPake, though, wasn’t giving much away on the chances of a deal happening.
On Sheridan, he said: “He is looking excellent.”