New Dundee trialist Gary Dempsey has already shown there are no grey areas for him as he prepares for today’s trip to Queen of the South.
The former Dunfermline and Aberdeen midfielder is only 30 but was welcomed into the Dens Park dressing room with a “guess the age” competition.
The focus of attention was his hair and its silver tinge, resulting in some of the estimates from his new colleagues being way off the mark.
“I was hardly through the door and the boys were taking bets on how old I was,” said the Irishman.
“The highest was 35 and the lowest 32, even though I only turned 30 just the other week.”
He added, “Mind you, I think they got the vibe from me early on that I can handle a laugh and a joke.
“I don’t take myself too seriously, which is just as well when you are in that kind of dressing-room when the stick is being dished out.
“Seriously, though, the lads have been great, whether it is in training or having lunch, and their team spirit and togetherness is tremendous given what they have all been through.”
Dempsey is signed with Bray Wanderers in his homeland as an amateur, so can move back to Scotland outside the transfer window if he wants to.
Dundee boss Barry Smith has three games to run the rule over the midfielder and could throw him in at Palmerston today.’Raring to go’Dempsey said, “I was at Bray up until November when the Irish season finished. I have got a good relationship with the manager, Pat Devlin, who has told me to feel free to look around and see what I can find.
“I have signed back as an amateur with Bray so that basically means I can leave whenever I want. To be honest, I want to get back to the UK because that’s where I enjoyed my best football in the past few years.”
He added, “The league in Ireland is not as good as it was and more and more of the guys are coming over to play in Scotland or the lower leagues in England.
“I had a couple of opportunities to go over to Scandinavia but it didn’t suit family-wise. My wife and I have two young children so it wasn’t really practical.
“We will just need to wait and see what the future brings but in the meantime I am feeling fit and raring to go.”
Stephen O’Donnell is suspended for Dundee, but Sean Higgins is available again.
Smith said, “Palmerston is one of the toughest venues in the first division so we know we’ll have to be at our best to win the match.”
With David Lilley and Bob Harris suspended, Queen of the South boss Kenny Brannigan has opted for the same starting 11 from their game with Ross County on Tuesday night, which was abandoned due to floodlight failure.
Brannigan said, “I would gladly settle right now for a straightforward win with no complications of any kind.”