Dundee boss Neil McCann admits he is looking for more midfield menace in front of goal this season.
That area of the team looked incredibly strong against Brechin on Saturday, with new boys Elton Ngwatala and Kharl Madianga really starting to gel while Lewis Spence and Paul McGowan scored the two goals that secured a comfortable victory against the League 1 part-timers.
The Dark Blues will undoubtedly face a tougher test when they open their Premiership campaign against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday and McCann is looking for even more from his midfield.
The manager said: “The way we are starting to push our midfielders forward to be more of an attacking threat is giving teams problems.
“Gowser (McGowan) is getting higher up, Kharl Madianga continues to get stronger with every game and I thought Lewis Spence allowed us to go and do that.
“He was really controlled there in front of the back four, breaking things up and moving the ball.
“So all in all, there were some good performances.
“Many times last year, we were reliant on the strikers but if they are missing chances, you are maybe looking at setpieces.
“We wanted to add a wee bit of thrust and aggression from the middle of the park, so bringing Elton and Kharl into the team has certainly done that.”
McCann added: “We have tweaked how we have played a wee bit that allows Gowser to maybe get forward.
“If your strikers are not scoring like against Stirling then you are hoping the midfielders are coming up with goals. That’s what you are after.
“But all in all, we need to score more goals and keep more clean sheets. We have now kept three out of four.”
Meanwhile, Dundee have been linked with Croatian striker Stipe Plazibat.
The 28-year-old frontman is understood to be on trial at Dens this week.
Plazibat has spent the last two years in Singapore and scored 37 goals in 39 games for Home United but is now a free agent.
