Dundee have received a major boost with the news that skipper Darren O’Dea has been given the green light to return to training.
The big Irishman missed the weekend encounter at Hearts because of a recurrence of the foot injury that has plagued him since last month.
The 29-year-old hurt his foot again in training at the tail end of last week and the club decided to send him for a scan on Saturday to determine if there was any serious underlying problem.
Now, the results have come through and O’Dea could return to the side as early as Sunday’s crunch game against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
A relieved Dundee manager Paul Hartley said last night: “Darren has been given the all-clear which is good news as he is a key player for us.”
O’Dea himself tweeted his delight saying: “Just got the news I was desperate for! Ready to roll again. Three games in six days next week. Massive games.”
Meanwhile, Hartley has revealed he is expecting big things from James Vincent now that the player has made his comeback from injury.
The 27-year-old midfielder made his first start on Saturday against Hearts since the game with Hamilton at Dens back on August 9 with the player now fully recovered from a knee problem.
It was the first time Vincent had played at Tynecastle but he could not mark his debut at the ground with a victory with the Jambos running out 2-0 winners despite the fact the Dark Blues hit the woodwork four times.
However, Hartley is hoping that the summer signing from Inverness can now kick on with Dundee.
He said: “James has looked really sharp in training.
“It has been stop-start for him since he arrived from Inverness.
“He started the season pretty well and then he had the four weeks out but he has looked good in training and has played a couple of 20s matches also.
“So it is good news on him.
“For me he is a central midfielder whether that is in an advanced role or as a holding one which he played up at Ross County.
“We have enough options now in the middle of the park with Hateley, Nick Ross, Mark O’Hara, Paul McGowan and Vinny.
“We think he can be a big player for Dundee.”
