Dundee are sweating over the fitness of four players ahead of the weekend trip to Hearts.
The Dark Blues head to Tynecastle looking to put their last trip to the capital behind them.
Just over a week ago, Tony Docherty’s side came back over the Queensferry Crossing smarting from a 4-0 defeat.
On top of that, hamstring injuries had seen Jordan McGhee and Ziyad Larkeche taken off during the game.
And there had been a re-occurrence of Lyall Cameron’s hamstring issue pre-match, too.
A weekend off, though, has given those players longer to recover and manager Docherty has been keen to ensure others keep up their fitness.
“We had a closed doors game on Friday at Arbroath. We wanted it in a stadium with referees as well to make it a proper game,” the Dens boss revealed.
“The players got the weekend off and it’s been back into it on Monday and we’re really pleased with the atmosphere around the players, the pace and quality of Monday’s training session.
“We got minutes into players that we needed to.
“We have a few out of training right now who we are hoping to have back by the end of the week in Seun Adewumi, Jordan McGhee, Ziyad Larkeche and Lyall Cameron.
“I hope to have everyone back for Saturday.”
Seun Adewumi injury
Adewumi’s issue hadn’t been made public with the Austrian not missing any matches.
But Docherty revealed he’s been carrying an injury since the last international break.
“He’s just got a wee niggling injury that we’re looking after,” Docherty said.
“It was important that he got a bit of time off, because he’s not been home since he came to us.
“So he had some time to rest and reset, time with his family.
“He returned on Monday but he has a wee injury he picked up with the U/21s that we need to look after.
“Hopefully we’ll have him back training over the next few days.”
Scott Fraser ‘looking good’
One who has trained and featured in that closed door inter-squad game at Arbroath was Scott Fraser.
He hasn’t played a minute since October but Dundee are tentatively hoping the experienced midfielder can finally get himself back on the pitch to help them in the final push for Premiership survival.
“He’s looking good,” Docherty said.
“He took part in the practice match on Friday. He trained on Monday morning.
“We’re not getting too far ahead, but we’re trying to build up his minutes as best we can.
“But he’s making progress, absolutely making progress.”
New head of recruitment
Progress behind the scenes is also the reason for the club searching for a new head of recruitment says Docherty.
Courier Sport revealed the Dark Blues were looking to expand their recruitment department with a new head of recruitment joining Billy Kirkwood for next season.
“It’s an ongoing development, we’re looking to strengthen things,” Docherty explained.
“Going into next season where a lot of players are out of contract, we’re looking to supplement what we’ve got.
“It’s just another example of the club trying to expand.”
Asked if this was in response to the disappointments of this season with Dundee sitting in the relegation play-off spot with five matches remaining, Docherty replied: “No, it’s always evolving.
“The club’s always evolving and you need to be at the sharp end of things.
“This appointment hopefully will allow us to be that.
“It’s looking to the future and it’s credit to the club for being forward-thinking.”
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