DUNDEE STRUCK BY WIGHTON INJURY BLOW

DUNDEE have been hit a devastating blow ahead of the new campaign with the news that striker Craig Wighton has damaged his cruciate knee ligament. The 19-year-old was injured in a bounce game against Bristol City last week and scan results have confirmed the worst. The Scotland Under-21 cap (right) will now meet with a specialist in the coming days to assess the extent of the problem, but he will definitely require surgery and months on the sidelines. ‘Craig has done his cruciate and needs an operation, so he will see his specialist next week,’ explained Dundee manager Neil McCann. ‘He had looked great in pre-season and we had talked about how he could be a big player for the club this season. ‘It was an innocuous one, as they often are, in a bounce game against Bristol City. He went by someone and just after that he went down. ‘He will get the operation now and get the best care he can get, but I wouldn’t like to talk about timescales and I don’t think he should be focused on that either.’ McCann is convinced he has had the right reaction from his players after cancelling their day off on Sunday in the wake of their sub-standard display in beating Highland League champions Buckie Thistle 2-0 on Saturday. ‘Nobody cried about it, we have a good group here,’ he added ahead of this evening’s Betfred Cup encounter with Cowdenbeath. ‘We had a right good meeting on Monday about the direction the club wants to go in and the direction I want to go in. ‘It was great and we’ve had a great training session since.’ McCann, meanwhile, confirmed that out-of-contract former Inverness Caley Thistle defender Josh Meekings is training with the club but insists there have been no discussions about a move.