Dundee boss Paul Hartley sees Iain Davidson’s future at the club in the centre of defence and not in his more regular position in midfield.
The former Raith Rovers skipper played 29 times for the Dark Blues last season.
However, so far in this campaign he has been restricted to one substitute run-out in the Premiership at St Mirren and a start against his old side from Kirkcaldy in the League Cup.
Competition for places in midfield is fierce at Dens with Hartley having added Gary Harkins, Stephen McGowan, Simon Ferry and Kevin Thomson during the summer.
The manager has now decided that he will employ Davidson as a centre-half.
However, the formidable obstacles of Thomas Konrad and James McPake are currently standing in his way and Hartley admits “Davo” may have to be patient.
He said: “You saw in the Raith game, he was excellent. What we asked of him, he did well.
“He knows there is good competition in the squad like everybody else.
“McPake and Konrad have been excellent but Davo just has to bide his time like everybody else who is not playing at the moment.
“I see him more as a centre-half this season to compete with the guys who are playing just now.”
Davidson did get a run-out in defence last week for the club’s development side in the “wee derby” against Dundee United at Gayfield.
The Dark Blues ran out 3-1 winners with Hartley admitting he was impressed by the result and performances, especially from recent signing, former QPR midfielder Dylan Carreiro.
He said: “I was delighted with the win. There were some good young players on show for us. I thought Dylan was excellent in the game.
“He came to us through an agent. We had him up for two or three weeks and what we saw, we liked. He is pushing towards the first team, that’s for sure.”