Dundee have suffered an injury blow with manager Paul Hartley confirming that Nicky Low will definitely miss tomorrow’s game against his former side Aberdeen.
The 23-year-old midfielder produced a man-of-the-match performance on what was his home debut at Dens last Saturday against St Johnstone.
He had to withdraw from the action in the 74th minute of that game with Hartley now confirming that Low has suffered a slight groin tear.
The manager said: “Nicky will be out for a week to 10 days which is a blow.
“His groin is a bit sore. He’s not played a lot of football in recent times so he just felt his groin going. It’s a slight tear.
“Nicky’s desperate to come back and play but it’s a long season for him so we have to be careful.
“He made a good impression last week. He was terrific and showed his quality.
“He’s one of those players who the fans love.
“He works ever so hard and when he’s on the ball he’s got good ability.”
Hartley will be also be without Rory Loy for the game at Pittodrie but there is better news on James McPake and skipper Kevin Thomson.
The manager added: “Rory will be out for another 10 days to two weeks.
“It’s his groin again and he just needs to let it settle down.
“He probably came back too quickly in the derby game.
“He was desperate to play at Tannadice but he now needs to let that settle.
“We think James will be OK.
“He’s got a dead leg it’s a bad one but he’s moving about better now.
“Thommo (calf) has trained and hopefully there’s no reaction to it and he’s OK.”
A trip to Pittodrie to face Derek McInnes’s Dons side is a daunting challenge but Hartley insists it is one his players are relishing.
He added: “It will be a hard test. Aberdeen are full of quality.
“They have movement and players in the final third who can win games for them.
“Derek has done a terrific job there.
“We know we’ll have to be at our best against them if we’re to get a positive result.
“Our players should enjoy it.
“They are testing themselves against one of the top teams in Scotland.
“I’ll be telling them to go there and show they can play and deserve to be on the same level as them.
“It’s away from home which is a totally different proposition but we’re looking forward to it.
“I think with the players we’ve got we’ll always have a go.
“But at the same time, you have to understand that when we’re away from home we have to adopt a system which can work for us.”