Dundee’s pre-season schedule came to a close with a 1-1 draw at Montrose.
The Dark Blues had plenty of the ball but chances were few and far between in their final warm-up ahead of the 2022/23 campaign kicking off on Saturday.
Striker Alex Jakubiak was bright in the first half, bringing a good save from Ross Matthews in the home goal before deflecting a Cammy Kerr shot in for the opening goal.
Jakubiak would bring another good save from Matthews at the start of the second half.
The scores were levelled on 63 minutes, however, as Craig Johnston got the better of Ryan Sweeney and fired beyond Ian Lawlor.
Neither side could find a winner as they look ahead to Premier Sports Cup matches against Hamilton and Fraserburgh respectively.
But what did we learn from Dundee’s performance against the Gable Endies?
Trialists
Dundee had two new faces on show as a pair of trialists joined Danny Devine in the matchday squad.
Former Peterborough midfielder Kyle Barker started at Links Park alongside Shaun Byrne in the centre of the park, generally looking very tidy and rarely, if ever, giving up possession.
He’s a 21-year-old free agent who left the English Championship side at the end of last season after featuring just once in three years at London Road.
Barker departed at half-time with Tyler Frost, formerly of Crawley Town, coming on at left wing.
Pacy and direct, Frost was full of industry and effort but with little coming off.
Devine came on for the final half-hour at right-back and showed up well. Some strong running down the flank pushed the youthful Dee forward.
Experience
This was a far more experienced Dundee squad than the one that faced Peterhead on Saturday.
The 4-0 win at Balmoor saw a number of youngsters get some minutes on the pitch alongside first-team regulars.
This was much more like the side we might see on Saturday in the League Cup against Hamilton, however.
The backline, though, was a different set-up as Cammy Kerr lined up at centre-back alongside Ryan Sweeney.
Josh Mulligan stepped in at right-back in the 4-4-2 line-up, Zak Rudden and Jakubiak the front pairing.
There were no wholesale changes at the break this time either with Paul McGowan, Luke McCowan and Fin Robertson joining trialist No 11 for the second half.
That changed on the hour, seconds after Montrose equalised, with the backline that finished the game made up of Devine, Sam Fisher, Luke Graham and Jack Wilkie.
Missing men
As much as we took from who was on the pitch, the names missing raise more questions.
Adam Legzdins, Lee Ashcroft and Cillian Sheridan’s absences were expected after their long-term injuries.
Also missing, though, were midfielders Max Anderson and Jay Chapman as well as defender Jordan McGhee.
The trio also didn’t feature during the weekend win at Peterhead.
Anderson was present at Links Park, taking a spot behind the dugout for the game but there was no sign of Chapman or McGhee.
