McPake: I’ll give youth a chance in crisis or not

JAMES McPAKE insists he will have no qualms about placing his faith in youth – and not solely as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Dundee manager will be forced to make some tough decisions regarding where to spend his playing budget in the coming weeks given the financial realities affecting every club in Scotland.

Dens Park owner John Nelms recently confirmed that the Dens Park club would be enforced to embark on a round of cost-cutting measures due to the continued reduction in income, while talks are ongoing regarding wage cuts among the playing squad.

As a consequence, Dundee are likely to run with a more lean squad in the upcoming campaign and rely on their young prospects such as Fin Robertson, Lyall Cameron, Josh Mulligan and Luke Strachan to supplement numbers.

However, McPake is adamant giving kids a chance was always going to be part of his plan. He said: “Honestly, it [any lack of depth] won’t change what we’re doing at Dundee – because we were already giving younger players an opportunity. If they show they are good enough, then I’ll put them in the team. It’s as simple as that.

“Finlay [Robertson] played 21 games for us last season and the youth players can look at him and say, ‘That can be me if I do well in training’. I don’t care too much about reputation – if a teenager is doing better than a senior player, he gets the jersey.

Lyall Cameron started for me against Dunfermline and he’d have started more games for me in the tail end of the season.

“I’d hope the young players know that if they come back in great shape and perform then they’ll get their chance, because that’s what we want to do as a football club – whether in a situation like this or more normal times.”