While the majority of the Dundee squad will have had a relatively-quiet last few days with no game this weekend, four of the club’s youngsters have been kept busy on international duty.
Craig Wighton, who has played for Scotland at Under-15, 16, 17 and 19 level, featured for the country’s Under-21s on Wednesday against Iceland at a wet and windy Reykjavik.
He came off the bench in the 78th minute to make his debut for Scot Gemmill’s team but he was powerless to prevent the home side winning 2-0.
Wighton and the rest of his team-mates will obviously be hoping for a better result in their European qualifying campaign when they travel to Skopje to face Macedonia next week.
A day after Wighton made his bow for Gemmill’s side, Dundee’s on-loan Celtic winger Michael Duffy and 19-year-old Dark Blues full-back Conor Quigley played for Northern Ireland Under-21s against Ukraine at the Obolon Arena in Kiev, with the latter making his debut at this level.
Both were in the starting line-up alongside Raith Rovers’ on-loan Rangers midfielder Jordan Thompson, who will miss next Tuesday night’s game with France at Windsor Park in Belfast because of suspension.
Meanwhile, another youngster on Dundee’s books, Enniskillen-born Matty Smyth, played for the Northern Ireland Under-19s in a 1-0 defeat to Slovakia on Thursday.
Smyth and his team-mates, who are managed by former Dark Blues player Stephen Frail, will look to bounce back today against Macedonia.
With Dundee’s Mark O’Hara also having recently made his debut for Scotland Under-21s, the future looks bright at Dens.
