Tony Docherty insists it is a fresh start at Dundee for Shaun Byrne.
The experienced midfielder was deemed surplus to requirements last season by previous Dark Blues boss Gary Bowyer and was told he was free to find another club.
The fans’ favourite decided to stay at Dens and fight for his place, but his appearances were few and far between, with the 30-year-old mostly restricted to brief cameos from the bench as Dundee clinched the Championship title.
Now, as the club prepares for life in the Premiership, Bowyer’s successor as manager, Docherty, admits it is a new chapter for Byrne.
The 52-year-old stressed: “Yes, for every one of the players. I said that when I came in the door – it is up to them.
“I have a fresh pair of eyes and I will be very analytical at every training session watching for habits, mentalities and ability.
“But it is a clean slate for all of them and they all have an opportunity to impress me and stake a claim to be starting in the team.”
Tyler French
Another player making a fresh start at Dens is Tyler French.
The 24-year-old joined Dundee from Wrexham last summer and quickly established himself in Bowyer’s first-choice team.
However, the defender suffered a horror leg break against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup in January which brought his season to a premature end.
Now, though, French is ready to move on to the next stage of his recovery.
Docherty revealed: “Tyler is coming along well.
“He has done his rehab and we have had another X-ray done just to make sure that we can push his work on a little bit.
“But he is a good boy and I have been impressed by him.
“He is one of those who just gets on with it.
“He looks like he has a good pain threshold so he knows the work he is doing now might be a bit uncomfortable but he just has to get through it.
“I have been really impressed by the mentality of the squad and he is another one who comes into that category.”
Skipper uncertainty
Dundee’s captain last season, centre-half Ryan Sweeney, has now left Dens after turning down a new contract.
However, Docherty admitted he is in no rush to appoint a successor to the title-winning skipper.
The manager added: “I am going to wait and see because I think we have four or five captains but obviously one of them will come to the fore.
“That will happen for me as a natural progression.
“There are definite candidates but with regards to the ones we bring in as well, that will come to the fore and I will unveil that, if you like, closer to the first game of the season.
“I quite like the competition for it because like I said we have a lot of candidates for it.”
