Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
A new-look Dark Blues could be ready for Gers
DunDee will have a new look about them once the Premiership gets back under way after the international break.
Added to new signings Jon Aurtenetxe and AJ Leitch-Smith potentially making their Dark Blues debuts at Ibrox on Saturday, fellownew boy Josh Meekings has enjoyed his first training sessions with his new team-mates.
The weekend clash at Rangers is probably just too soon for the former Inverness defender but he is edging closer to a return to fitness.
The Englishman hasn’t played a first-team game this year, with his last appearance coming on Hogmanay in a 3-2 derby defeat to Ross County for Caley Thistle.
He’s been a regular face around Dens, having been building up his fitness at the club for around two months before signing and will give manager Neil McCann a decision to make on his preferred central defensive pairing.
With skipper Darren O’Dea also expected to return in the next couple of weeks and new boy Aurtenetxe able to fill i n at centre-half as well as left-back, Neil will be spoilt for choice.
Julen Etxabeguren is also back training after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
However, young defensive pairing Jack Hendry and Kerr Waddell have performed admirably in the absence of their injured team-mates and will take a bit of shifting, should the manager opt for change.
Bulgarian defender Kosta Gadzhalov, meanwhile, is yet to even make the bench this season having been sidelined by injury himself.
Also nearing a return is striker Sofien Moussa with the manager saying he expects him back after the break.
The Tunisian only managed 51 minutes of Premiership football before damaging knee ligaments in the 2-1 defeat to Ross County on the first day of the season.
Fellow-striker Marcus Haber, however, is expected to be out for a while longer with his thigh problem, although a date for his return hasn’t yet been specified.
Faissal El Bakhtaoui should be properly recovered from the hamstring problem he picked up in the 2-1 defeat at Aberdeen and will be favourite to continue leading the line at Rangers.
That all means over the next few weeks in the Premiership the Dark Blues could have three new faces in their starting XI, plus several others looking to force their way back in.