Dundee’s squad is as strong as it has been all season says manager Tony Docherty.
The Dark Blues are ready to host Hearts at Dens Park on Saturday with a massive seven fresh faces to choose from.
Joe Shaughnessy, Josh Mulligan, Jordan McGhee, Antonio Portales, Charlie Reilly and Ziyad Larkeche are all back from illness or injury while Victor Lopez could make his debut.
In Dundee’s last outing – the Scottish Cup win over Dundee United – they had eight players out through injury.
That number is now down to two in Scott Fraser (groin) and Billy Koumetio (ankle).
And boss Docherty is delighted to be through the injury crisis that dogged their last couple of months.
“It’s brilliant to have so many back, that’s the real positive news. Never nice to not have a game at the weekend,” he said.
“We were really looking forward to going down to Celtic game because there was a bit of momentum. We were actually halfway down the road when we found out.
“But it allowed us to get that extra bit of training.
“So after going through that period with so many injuries, it feels like new signings coming through the door.
“It really strengthens the squad and I’ve really enjoyed training this week.
“We had our first 11 v 11 of the season.
“At a crucial stage of the season, it promotes that really healthy competition.
‘Flying colours’
“I’ve been waiting for that for months. There’s been days we’ve been training with, very often training with 13 players, bringing up youth players.
“There’s a real feeling about the squad and now we’re getting into a period, 10 games to the split, still in the Scottish Cup. We’re going to need everybody.
“There’s a couple of call-offs at training today with minor things but you’re not worried, because of the strength of the squad.
“The squad is as strong as it has been all season and I give real credit to the ones that have played right through.
“The squad was really threadbare. The players came through that test in absolute flying colours.
“So they’re stronger. They’re stronger for having been put into that challenging position. They’ve come out of that stronger.
“And the squad in general has been strengthened by the ones coming in.”
Transfers in
The January transfer window has seen four new faces arrive.
Aaron Donnelly, Imari Samuels, Cesar Garza and Victor Lopez have all come in.
The window slams shut at 11pm on Monday night.
Docherty says he’s “relaxed” about the way his squad has shaped up but isn’t ruling out any more business.
“Well, there’s still five days to go,” he added.
“We have another recruitment meeting later on today. So it’s ongoing.
“I wouldn’t say yes and I wouldn’t say no.
“In my experience, I’ve seen a lot happening in the last five days of a window.
“So, we’ll still go through the process to look at areas we can strengthen and look at trying to maintain what we’ve got.”
Transfers out
But could there be any heading out?
Curtis Main left for Ayr United on Saturday while Sammy Braybrooke and Julien Vetro returned to their parent clubs.
Sean Kelly was also released from his short-term contract.
There is speculation over out-of-contract players like Lyall Cameron or Jordan McGhee being prised away before Monday’s deadline.
However, when asked if there would be any more heading out, Docherty replied: “Not that I’m aware of. Not at the moment.
“With five days to go things can change but at the moment I’m very encouraged by the four that we’ve brought in and injuries returning and just hopefully we can keep that the way it is.”
He added: “Curtis came to us because he was looking for guaranteed game time and I couldn’t guarantee him that because of the strength of the players in front of him.”
Conversation