Dundee boss Paul Hartley admits he is desperate for Greg Stewart to stay at Dens however he is realistic enough to know there are no guarantees that will happen.
The front man was in outstanding form during the Dark Blues’ 5-2 victory over Ross County on Saturday, scoring two great goals.
The 26-year-old has been one of Dundee’s top players since he joined the club from Cowdenbeath two summers ago and it is certain that his performances will have attracted interest from elsewhere.
With Stewart soon to enter the final year of his contract at Dens, Hartley is eager to tie him to a longer contract but he admits that might not happen.
When asked if he was confident he can retain Stewart, the manager said: “We would like to but there are no guarantees that we can keep him.
“He has got a year left on his contract and he is a player we really want to tie down but I think there will definitely be interest in him.
“The way he has performed since he came here, he has shown his quality.
“He wasn’t just a one-season wonder.
“Do we want to keep him? Of course, we want to keep him. Can we keep him? That’s another scenario.
“There has not been any interest or bids. There has been a lot of speculation but there has never been a concrete bid.
“But I think when you are coming into the final year of your contract, then it is definitely a different situation that we face now.
“We know he is quality and having looked at his second goal again from Saturday, it is an outstanding finish.”
While Stewart’s long-term future seems uncertain, he will definitely play tonight against Celtic at Dens.
Dundee are desperate to take as many points as possible from the game against the Hoops and then their final fixture before the split at Hamilton on Saturday to try to achieve their season-long ambition of making the top six.
Celtic picked up a good win of their own on Saturday, beating Hearts 3-1 at Parkhead with Hartley admitting his players have to be wary of the threat of on-loan Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts who netted two of his side’s goals against the Jambos.
The manager added: “I thought Hearts played well for the first period but Celtic probably came into the game and had a real threat through Roberts.
“He comes off the side, a little like Greg Stewart with the way he plays.
“He scored a couple of great goals and was a real threat to Hearts.
“City paid £12 million for him so he definitely has qualities about him.
“He is a player we need to watch.
“Celtic had some good forward play on Saturday so we need to be aware of their threat but if we can play the way we performed against Ross County, then hopefully we can give them a good game.”
Dundee still have three players out injured but keeper Scott Bain and skipper Gary Harkins return from suspension
Hartley said: “Bain and Harkins are back but Paul McGinn, Nicky Low and Kosta Gadzhalov are still injured.
“Julen Etxabeguren came off on Saturday but it was just a bit of cramp and he will be OK.”