Evening Telegraph (First Edition)

Ashcroft knocked back Saints and Jags before signing for Dark Blues

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DUNDEE boss James McPake expects new signing Lee Ashcroft to lead from the back as he hailed the centre-back’s desire to sign on at Dens Park, turning down Premiershi­p St Johnstone in doing so.

The Dark Blues gaffer also revealed the former Dunfermlin­e man is “in line with other players” in terms of wages.

The first-team players accepted a wage cut to help the club through the financial problems the coronaviru­s shutdown has brought before Ashcroft arrived.

That, however, didn’t deter the 26-year-old from joining McPake’s men on a two-year deal.

The Dens gaffer said: “We were delighted to get him in because we have lost Christophe (Berra) and Josh (Meekings) so we needed a centre back.

“To be fair to Lee, if we had signed him in any other summer previous he probably comes in on a higher salary but he completely understood where we are and he is in line with the other players.

“He’s been a captain and played a lot of games. He’s a leader and will add to our squad. At only 26, he is a good age and I think his best years are still to come.”

Ashcroft played 164 times for Dunfermlin­e over four years at East End Park following four seasons in the top flight at Kilmarnock, where he made 71 appearance­s.

And McPake revealed he’s been keeping a keen eye on the defender for some time.

“He is a player I played against when he was younger and we were interested in him last year so he is one we watched a lot last season,” he added.

“There has been a lot of work put into it and we believe that he adds to our squad.

“He’s played a lot of games and he is rarely injured.

“He really wanted to come to the club when I had the conversati­on with him which is a massive thing. He had a real desire to come here.

“He had a week training with St Johnstone and was offered a deal and also had an offer from Partick Thistle.”

 ??  ?? Lee Ashcroft joined Dundee from Dunfermlin­e.
Lee Ashcroft joined Dundee from Dunfermlin­e.

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