Plenty of players on the radar for Mellon at end of the season

DUNDEE United boss Micky Mellon says the club have eyes on “dozens of players” ahead of the summer transfer window.

Mellon, who has a year left to run on his United contract amid reported interest from Doncaster Rovers, signed just five players in his first window as United boss and none in January.

Luke Bolton, Ryan Edwards, Jeando Fuchs, Florent Hoti and Marc McNulty have had impacts of a varying degree but all five, notably, came into the Scottish game from elsewhere.

Bolton, Edwards, Hoti and McNulty all moved north from England last summer, while Fuchs was signed from Spanish club Alaves.

Mellon admits they will continue to cast the net far and wide but that the Scottish Championship is also a market of interest for the Terrors.

The United boss cited former Ayr United hitman and current Tannadice talisman Lawrence Shankland as an example.

“We are on it all the time,” the Tangerines gaffer said.

“We will be looking at our own team and others and how can we make ourselves better?

“Can we develop what we have got, is there anyone better who would come in and improve us or is there a young one coming through?”

He added: “We have looked at dozens of players. We would look at the Scottish Championship because that would be a decent talent pool.

“Lawrence Shankland has come from there and there are always players there.

“We watch what is there, we would look at if we could fit them into our squad and would they improve us. There are also a lot of players in England, Ireland; Scandinavian and Ukranian players.

“The boys work hard on all these different leagues to make sure we can get the best talent available to us.”

Focusing on the here and now, Mellon has some dilemmas to unpack with his current crop.

As they head for Forfar on Friday night in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup, the Tangerines boss must decide whether to continue with cup keeper Deniz Mehmet or plump for No 1 Benjamin Siegrist.

He remained diplomatic on the selection headache, insisting getting the right result was the most important thing.

“They are both good goalkeepers and we are blessed to have both of them,” Mellon added.

“I speak to them all the time and explain what happens some time because I can only play one goalkeeper.

“It is difficult for them when only one can play.

“When the time is right I will think about it but we will always try to put out a team that we believe will get us results.

“What we are mindful of is that we have a squad of 21-22 that trains with us every day.

“They have all been brought here to play for Dundee United and one of the ways I keep them all in is by involving them.

“If I didn’t think they could come in and do a job then I would tell them their future lies elsewhere.

“We will pick a team to go up to Forfar and I will trust the players to get us a result, regardless of whether that is a goalkeeper or any other position.

“I think you have to keep all your squad engaged and involved.”

Ryan Edwards moved north to Tannadice.