Dee skipper O’Dea set to be fit to lead side at Raith

DUNDEE skipper Darren O’Dea is set to lead his side out for their season opener at Raith Rovers tomorrow night.

The Irish international missed Friday night’s friendly defeat to Bolton after picking up a knock in training but manager Neil McCann expects his captain to be ready for the Betfred Cup game.

He said: “Darren O’Dea has picked up a wee knock so we just had to be careful with him.

“There was no need to risk anything on Friday so, hopefully, he’ll be ready to go for Tuesday night.”

Should O’Dea not make it for the match at Stark’s Park, however, the Dundee gaffer will have no worries over the ability of youngsters Jack Hendry and Kerr Waddell.

The two have a combined age of 41 but impressed McCann in the 2-1 defeat on Friday despite their tender years.

“We’ve just been done by two big smashes up front,” added the Dens gaffer.

“It was typical Championship football, big physicality up front and we didn’t deal with it the way we should have done.

“We had a word with the boys Jack Hendry and big Kerr Waddell at half-time to be just as aggressive as they were and I thought they were brilliant in the second half.

“It’s great experience for them. I know Jack’s been down the road but that’s the first taste of it for Kerr and I thought he grew into the match and his passing was good. I thought the maturity they showed in the second half was excellent.”

Despite the result, the Dundee boss was happy with the test Bolton provided but insists there’s more to come from his side.

“I’m not happy we didn’t win because that’s what we wanted to do but I thought overall we played some really nice stuff. Overall it was a great workout for us.

“I thought we looked a threat going forward, we looked composed on the ball but there’s a lot more to come.”