Dundee boss James McPake is relieved to have his five isolating players available for the club’s Premiership return this Saturday.
The Dark Blues feared they would be without six first-team players following last week’s positive Covid-19 case.
Five of the squad were deemed to be close contacts and have been isolating at home. The concern was that would continue into this weekend.
However, the Dens boss has revealed he’ll have all five back for the weekend clash with St Mirren.
Though McPake was able to field a strong team against Forfar last week, strong enough to win the Premier Sports Cup clash 5-2, he’s glad to have more options at his disposal for the Buddies.
On top of the missing six players, experienced pair Charlie Adam and Liam Fontaine limped off in the first half.
On the isolating players, McPake said: “We will have the five isolating players back for Saturday.
“We’ll be missing the player who has the virus, of course. We wish him well, he has been struggling but seems to be coming through the other end of it.
“The main thing is he’s ok. Anything we can do to help we will.”
He added: “It was a relief but I think you could see the strength of the squad on Saturday.
“There’s no guarantee these players will be starting.
“Having a full squad is important, though.
“We had eight out altogether and two came off but still won the game. No disrespect to Forfar but we’re facing much tougher opposition in the weeks to come.
“The depth of the squad is really important. From day one we’ve wanted to build a squad that can compete in the Premiership. We believe we have that.
“We have depth, we have quality but we need to go prove it.
“It’s a really big season ahead for the football club, an important one, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Injury update
McPake also revealed the club are continuing to assess the fitness of Adam (calf) and Fontaine (hamstring) after they picked up injuries against Forfar.
Both limped off in the first half against the Loons.
On top of that, the Dark Blues were without Cammy Kerr and Alex Jakubiak.
They were both replaced at half-time in the 2-0 win at Montrose last week.
Kerr is out for this weekend’s match with a knee injury while Jakubiak suffered a hamstring problem.
The forward has had a torrid time since signing last summer, missing almost his entire debut season with injury.
This one, though, isn’t serious says McPake.
“We’ll keep monitoring Charlie and Liam,” the Dens boss said.
“Cammy is a definite no-no.
“Alex Jakubiak isn’t too bad. The scan report was OK. We’re hopeful we’ll have him back soon.
“I feel for him, I do. He’s worked ever so hard to get back from a major injury.
“It goes through your head that it might be another major one but thankfully it wasn’t.
“Maybe Saturday for him but we’ll assess it as the week goes on.”