Dundee gaffer McCann keen to protect new boy Moussa

DUNDEE boss Neil McCann insists he didn’t have Sunday’s derby in mind when replacing hat-trick hero Sofien Moussa at Cowdenbeath — it was about protecting him for the full season ahead.

After smashing in an impressive first-half hat-trick, the Tunisian came off to be replaced by Marcus Haber with just over an hour on the clock at Central Park.

To many, that would have been about keeping him as fresh as possible for Sunday’s crunch derby match, but Neil says that was the plan no matter what happened in the match.

He said: “He’s not had a lot of training time, he’s behind us in preparation. We got him in late and I didn’t expect to play him for 90 minutes last weekend but Faissal had to come off with a wee injury.

“Wednesday night was always about protection.

“I actually left him out of training the other day just because he was feeling a bit tight so I always had i n my mind he would get 60-65 minutes and then take him off.

“It wasn’t about protecting him for the game on Sunday specifically, it was about protecting him in general.”

Moussa has certainly made an impact in his short time at Dens Park, scoring five goals in just 173 minutes of action — that’s one every 35 minutes.

Those goals have helped Dundee to a 100% record in the Betfred Cup heading into the final winner-takes-all clash on Sunday against Dundee United.

Neil added: “Of course going into the Dundee United game with three wins is vital, but United are in the same boat.

“It sets the group up really nicely to see who’s going to come out on top.

“We’ll give the guys every piece of information they normally get on Dundee United.

“They’ll get all the information required and then it’s all about us and doing what we do well.

“If we play like we did on Wednesday then I’m confident going into the game at the weekend.

“We’ll be looking to get another win under our belts.”

DUNDEE have added former West Brom defender Jordan Piggott to their U/20s squad.