Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Have Dundee Caley cracker
THE last couple of years has seen plenty players moving from Caley Thistle to Dundee but surely the biggest success has been Josh Meekings — and there’s more yet to come from him.
Inverness, who provide opposition at Dens Park on Saturday in the Scottish Cup, has been a frequent place to go shopping for Dundee lately with, it has to be said, not much success.
The one man who looks like he might buck that trend is centre-back Meekings after quickly become a mainstay in the Dark Blues backline.
Before his arrival, Nick Ross was joined by fellow former ICT team-mates James Vincent and Danny Williams at Dens Park.
Only Vincent of those three remains at the club and that most probably won’t be for too much longer.
So have Dundee finally found a Caley cracker?
It’s certainly taken some time but, after a being out injured for a lengthy spell, Meekings has already shown enough in his short time at the club to say he can be a big part of their future.
Meekings arrived at Dens in the summer after departing Caley Thistle at the end of their doomed Premiership campaign last season.
Still working his way back to fitness after a serious knee injury picked up at the start of 2017, the 25-year-old eventually signed on the dotted line for the Dark Blues in August.
Despite not being on the winning side until his seventh game in dark blue — his debut coming right at the start of their winless run of five games in October and November — the Englishman’s return to match sharpness after his lay off has coincided with the team’s improving fortunes in the Premiership.
Alongside Jack Hendry, Meekings has all but cemented himself in the firstchoice pairing for manager Neil McCann, only missing the last game against St Johnstone with a knock picked up against Celtic.
With that in mind, should he stay injury free, the second half of the season promises much for the former Ipswich trainee.
And, if Dundee can keep what seems the manager’s favoured back four of Meekings and Hendry flanked by Cammy Kerr and Jon Aurtenetxe fit and firing, a settled backline can only be a benefit in the business end of the season as they harbour hopes of a tilt at a top-six finish.
Plenty of ifs and maybes but the