Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
English pair set to test Dee resolve
THE next week or so could see Dundee’s resolve to hang on to star defender Jack Hendry tested by English Premier League pair Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.
The Tele can reveal they’re the two outfits from down south who’ve joined Celtic in eyeing moves for the 22-year-old.
And if they do decide to move before the transfer window closes, they could easily match the Dark Blues’ asking price which would be in excess of the £1.5 million that’s been talked about.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, in particular, is strongly interested in the young centre-half and has had him extensively watched.
He’s been impressed by the reports gathered on Hendry and believes he would fit perfectly into his team’s passing style.
But veteran former England boss Roy Hodgson is also aware of Hendry’s talent and could swoop in an attempt to take him to Palace.
Club captain Scott Dann has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the Eagles are keen to get another centre-back on the books.
Celtic remain favourites to get Hendry if he does move this window but such is the spending power of EPL clubs that both could comfortably match any offer that’s forthcoming from Parkhead.
The wages they could offer the former Partick Thistle and Wigan player is another factor in their favour.
Hendry missed Saturday’s 2-2 Scottish Cup draw with Inverness due to illness.
Flu and cold has been “rife” in the Dundee squad over the last couple of weeks and Hendry wasn’t well enough to take part at Dens.
Boss Neil McCann said: “Jack has the flu. We’ve had a couple of boys actually with cold, it’s rife at the minute as you know. I’m hoping he will be back and ready to go for Hibs on Wednesday.
“I’m not prepared to lose any of my players, certainly not without a fight, so I’m looking forward to seeing Jack back in training.”
He added: “We didn’t deserve to win it but we didn’t deserve to lose it either.
“You could see we were rusty after the winter break.
“We got going in the second half and once we got our noses in front we should have seen the game out.
“The only positive I can take is we are still in the cup. So we have to go and take care of business in Inverness.”
winner of next Tuesday’s replay between Dundee and Inverness will play host to Motherwell in round five.