Nick Ross believes Dundee’s strength in depth can help them have a successful season.
The midfielder, who made the move south from Inverness Caley Thistle, knows it won’t be easy to stay in the side given the number of options available to manager Paul Hartley.
However, it is that very competition for places that Ross feels will help the Dark Blues enjoy the Premiership campaign that is about to kick off down at Kilmarnock.
He said: “Now it’s all about looking forward to Saturday at Rugby Park and I believe we are ready for it.
“For me, being at a new club, it’s an exciting time.
“Hopefully, I can play a part at the weekend and we are all looking forward to getting the real stuff done.
“We have some squad, haven’t we? There are a lot of midfielders so that means there is a lot of competition for me.
“I knew it was a big squad when I joined but it’s good to have a bit of depth because that means boys coming off the bench can make an impact.
“So we can all play our part in what should be a good season.
“Everyone is fighting for their place and we will all have to battle hard to get into the team.
“A lot will also depend on the formation we play because we have a few strikers.
“Every team wants to win the first game of the season and we also have the Dundee derby coming up soon so want some points in the bag before then.
“We don’t know the team for Killie yet but we are all desperate to be in it.
“There are quality players here and I think we will do well this year.”
Having joined the Dens club from an ICT team that had a fantastic season last time, lifting the Scottish Cup and finishing third in the league, Ross was asked if he thought his new side could contemplate such achievements.
He replied: “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves but if Inverness can do what they did we had quite a small squad up there and we can all click together and hit the ground running then I don’t see why we can’t do well.”
Ross played the bulk of Tuesday night’s home friendly against English Premier League side Everton, whose line-up was sprinkled with international stars.
The best of the lot was England ace Ross Barkley, who did his best to make life difficult for Ross and the other Dundee midfielders.
Ross enjoyed facing such a high standard of opponent, though, and it seems it was ideal preparation for the trip to Ayrshire.
“It was a tough game because they were a step above everything that we have had before,” he said.
“However, it’s the level everyone wants to play at so it was a good experience.
“When you play players at Everton’s level then I suppose everyone you then face is a step down but it will be a tough game against Kilmarnock.”