Dundee boss Paul Hartley is hoping to have the inspirational James McPake available for the league game up in Dingwall against Ross County.
The big centre-half produced an outstanding performance against Dundee United on Wednesday night for the Dark Blues despite suffering from a dead leg.
Ultimately of course, McPake and the rest of the Dundee team’s efforts were in vain with the Tangerines netting a late winner to take them through to the quarter-finals.
However, considering they had to play with 10 men following Martin Boyle’s sending off in the 26th minute, Hartley has taken a lot of confidence from the display for tomorrow’s league game at Ross County and he revealed his injury and suspension hit squad has received a boost with the return of a key player.
Hartley, who has decided against appealing Boyle’s red said: “James is fine. He played through the pain barrier last night but he feels better today.
“He had plenty of ice on it and he will just recover over the next two days. James is desperate to play on Saturday and I am sure he will be fine.
“Davo should make it but we will see how he is tomorrow. He should be OK but Phil Roberts has a chest infection and he was sent home today.
“Thomas Konrad is suspended as is Boyle so we will have to use the squad again.
“Willie Dyer will probably do some running on Monday but he has also been suffering from a virus.
“Kevin Thomson will hopefully not be too far away. He came back but suffered a wee setback on the same injury.
“However, Peter MacDonald is back training and will be in the squad, which is a boost.”
Hartley paid tribute to mcpake’s contribution against United saying: “I thought he was terrific and a real leader for us. He headed everything but I think he was just disappointed with their goal.
“He has been absolutely fantastic for us since coming here in the summer.
“Last night was typical of him just putting his body on the line and the fans have really taken to James.
“I said to him after the game, that’s the way I like centre-halves defending. I also thought Konrad beside him was outstanding.”
The outcome of the game could have been different if Greg Stewart had not had a first-half penalty saved by Rado Cierzniak.
When asked if the former Cowdenbeath front man was the designated spot-kick taker, Hartley said: “Yes, he was. To be fair, we worked on penalties the day before just in case the tie went to spot kicks.
“Greg put his hand up to say he would take it. It was just one of those things but overall, I felt he was great for us again.
“He scored on Sunday and he showed once again that he can play at this level.”
Dundee will travel north to Dingwall to face a Staggies side desperate to secure their first win of the season under new management team of Jim McIntyre and his assistant, Billy Dodds.
Hartley has watched the Staggies in action and knows they will possess a threat as his side looks to get back to winning ways.
He said: “I know Jim well and he is a good guy. They will get it going up there and it is a massive job for them.
“We went up to watch them on Saturday against Aberdeen and they had a few chances. I also watched them Tuesday in the cup. So they will be desperate for their first win.
“But we need to go there and try to put a good performance on Saturday showing the same level of confidence from last night.
“We will need to use the squad to try to win the game.”