Duo may return for Dark Blues

DUNDEE could be boosted by the return of Faissal El B a k h t a o u i a n d Ko s t a Gadzhalov at Hear ts tomorrow.

Attacker El Bakhtaoui missed Tuesday night’s defeat at Ross County with a calf strain.

And defender Gadzhalov has been out injured since the defeat at St Johnstone almost a month ago.

Both, however, have been back in training and manager Paul Hartley i s hopeful they can be listed in the travelling squad for Tynecastle,

“We will see how they are but they have a chance,” said Paul.

“They’ve done a bit with the physio and they’ll do a bit more, so, hopefully, they’ll make it for tomorrow.

“They play in key positions f or us and it bolsters the squad, so it would be good to have them both available.”

While t he gaffer was disappointed with the midweek result up in Dingwall, Hartley believes the fighting spirit shown by his players demonstrated they are capable of pulling away from a relegation dogfight between now and the end of the campaign.

“I knew we would get a reaction from them (after the 7-0 loss to Aberdeen). That was a must and they did that.

“It was a disappointment to lose a cruel goal with almost the last kick of the ball.

“If we’d taken a point from there — it’s a difficult venue for us — we’d have come down the road happy.

“But the reaction of the players was tremendous.”

Defender Kosta Gadzhalov could be in Dundee’s squad.