Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Wighton urged to keep form going
DUNDEE boss Paul Hartley has urged youngster Craig Wighton to keep his first-team spot after a Man-of-the-Match display in the win over Inverness.
The 19-year-old has been impressive in recent weeks and has caught the attention of clubs south of the border with Championship side Wolves, now managed by Paul Lambert, sending a scout to Dens to run the rule over Wighton.
Sunderland, Swansea and Southampton have also been reportedly interested in the Dundonian.
And the visiting scout would no doubt have been i mpressed as Wighton was a constant threat to the Caley defence and notched his first goal of the season to open the scoring.
And for Hartley it’s been no surprise to see Wighton shining in dark blue.
He said: “He’s done that for the past month, he’s made a huge impact for us, him and Haber up front.
“His goal was class, he showed great maturity and he’s got that ability about him. He’s working hard off the ball, too.
“He’s always had it, we’ve been patient with him. It’s too easy to put young kids in and expect a lot of them, he’s had a few loan spells and he’s bulked up so he’s got the jersey now and, hopefully, he can keep it. “He’s got natural talent. “He’s 19, he’s been in about the team since he was 15 so there’s a lot of expectation on his young shoulders so we’ve been patient and if he keeps performing like that . . .”
The Dundee gaffer was delighted with the victory, their third in four games, but admits it wasn’t a classic performance.
He added: “I’m happy because I didn’t think we played great in terms of us on the ball but I’m happy with the team and the effort and attitude.
“It was first class again. Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly and I think that was sort of an ugly win for us.”
Caley manager Richie Foran, meanwhile, refused to be angry with his side despite them falling to 10th in the table.
He said: “That was just unbelievable. It was our best performance of the season.
“We had all the possession and dominated from start to finish but still lost a game of football.
“We had so many chances to score and could have had four or five and then they go and score against the run of play.
“I’ve told the lads I’m delighted with all their performances but not to take it the wrong way — I’m obviously not happy with the result or the first goal against us.”