Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
McPake: I’d like but I’m happy to
DU N DE E boss Ja mes McPake admits he’d like a not he r st r i ke r i n h is squad but slim pickings in the free agent market means he’s happy to stick with just two for the rest of the campaign.
An ultimately failed deal to bring in St Mirren frontman Danny Mullen went right to the wire on transfer deadline day.
That was frustrating for the Dens boss but he’s more than happy with the quality of the two strikers he has at his disposal.
Andrew Nelson returned to full training today after surgery to fix a broken hand while Kane Hemmings notched his seventh league goal of the season at Morton on Saturday.
James said: “I would like another striker.
“We have Kane Hemmings and Andrew Nelson, though.
“We did try to bring in another one in the window, that’s no secret.
“There still is a chance because there are free agents out there but we won’t just go out and sign somebody for the sake of filling a space.
“I am delighted Andrew Nelson is back.
“Even a game like Saturday at Morton, we could have done with him on the pitch with his energy and the tempo he brings.
“Kane got reward for his hard work with a good goal and is then unlucky with another effort.
“No manager will ever say they are completely happy with the squad, you always want to improve, but I am happy with the work we did in January.”
He added: “Andrew had his final bit of work on his hand done yesterday, he’s done all his conditioning and we’ll get him up to speed to be ready to go on Saturday.”
In terms of possibly adding another player to his squad outside of the window, there is nothing imminent.
However, a deal for 34-year-old former Celtic and Burnley man Ross Wallace is still a possibility.
Whether there are more new faces at Dens Park or not, James does expect his team to start putting together performances in a way they have failed to do all season.
And he hopes, after having new signings Christophe Berra, Tom Field and Christie Elliott in training for a week, they can start to do that this coming weekend at home to Partick.
The Dens gaffer added: “I think there is a lot more to come from this team.