Dundee will give skipper Darren O’Dea until the last minute to prove his fitness ahead of tomorrow’s game with Aberdeen at Dens.
The Irishman suffered a foot injury last week against Kilmarnock with fears he had sustained serious damage after the 29-year-old left the ground on crutches.
However, a scan showed that there were no broken bones and Dark Blues boss Paul Hartley insists the centre-half is determined to play his part against the Dons.
The manager said last night: “There is no fracture and in his mind he wants to play. We will give him until the last minute on Sunday.
“The rest of the boys are OK. Nicky Low picked up a knock the other night for the Under-20s but he is all right and has trained today as has Michael Duffy.
“James Vincent is coming back although we are without Kevin Gomis who is suspended for the next two games (after Killie red card).
“That is a blow for us but we just have to get on with it.
“We have defensive options in Julen Etxabeguren as well as Kosta Gadzhalov and hopefully Darren will be able to play.”
Dundee were frustrated to only draw against Killie last week but Hartley insists he sees signs that his side are close to hitting top form.
He believes they are defensively solid and just need to take some of the numerous chances they are creating.
Hartley added: “We always seem to have good games against Aberdeen.
“People will probably talk about their slow start to the season but they are a good team.
“We are under no illusions about the players they have in their team, especially in the final third so we expect another tough game against them.
“But we obviously want to try to focus on us and I don’t think we are far away.
“I think we look really solid this year all over the pitch but it is just at the other end – can we take the chances we are creating?
“We had 17 attempts on goal last week against Killie.”
Meanwhile, Hartley had been weighing up a move earlier this week for Dutch trialist Jens Janse.
The defender played for the Dundee Under-20s on Tuesday night but the manager will not be pursuing his interest.
He added: “We had a full-back in this week but we are not doing anything with him.”
