Dundee boss Jim McIntyre admits his desire to make changes for tonight’s Scottish Cup replay with Queen of the South will be curtailed due to a combination of injury and ineligibility.
The manager confirmed that winger Jesse Curran who had to come off after just nine minutes of the game with Motherwell at Dens on Saturday will definitely miss the trip to Palmerston with a hamstring problem.
Centre-halves Andrew Davies and Josh Meekings as well as goalie Jack Hamilton remain out with long-term injuries while new signings Andy Horsfield and Andreas Hadenius cannot play.
McIntyre said: “We have a couple of wee knocks from the weekend which will hopefully be OK.
“Obviously Jesse will not make it with his hamstring.
“We don’t think it is as bad as first feared so will see how he settles over the next couple of days.
“We think it is coming from his back which if that’s the case, then that’s the best scenario as there hasn’t been a lot of damage to the muscle tissue.”
Dundee are in the middle of hectic run of games and when asked if he was contemplating changes for the cup replay, he said: “Yes, of course but we don’t have a lot of changes to make.
“Our two latest additions can’t be involved as they weren’t signed before the first leg.
“So we are obviously light on numbers.”
McIntyre admitted that his players were still trying to shake off the rust after the winter break when they first played Queens at Dens two Saturdays ago.
Since then though the performance levels have increased considerably and while the Dark Blues could not follow up their win at Hearts last midweek when they were unlucky to lose out to Motherwell three days later, McIntyre was still pleased with the overall display.
He said: “Definitely. The level of performance was much, much better and was a big step up from the week before against Queens. It was more how we want to play.
“There is no doubt in that first game we were rusty.
“You have to give Queens credit though as they played well.
“For us it is just about trying to make sure we get ourselves into the next round.
“They are strong at home and have a good record there.
“It is obviously on a pitch that they are accustomed to so we need to make sure we play well to get through it.
“They have players who can hurt you as they have proven this season.
“But it is our biggest cup competition and we want to get into the next round and try to go on.”
While Dundee could not secure the right result at Dens on Saturday, the manager admitted he was delighted with the loud backing the team received even in defeat.
He said: “They were very vocal. That’s the loudest I have heard them since I came here.
“You can understand why as you need to give them a performance to get excited.
“They were great on Saturday and really got behind the team. They recognised the hard work that was being put in and they didn’t get too down with the opportunities we missed.
“I was really pleased with the reaction we got. I had asked for that wee bit of patience and to get right behind the boys and they certainly did that.”
Meanwhile, there have been no new developments regarding Glen Kamara who has signed a pre-contract with Rangers or the other players who have been told they are free to leave Dens.
And McIntyre admitted he was unsure if there would be any new arrivals before the window closes on Thursday.
He said: “Flick of a coin. We will just have to wait and see.
“We have up to Thursday night and we will be trying.”
