The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Wright considering attacking options
Defender excited by ‘massive game’ against city rivals
“We have to assess which are the best options to go for, and I suspect nothing will be decided quickly on Romain,” said Wright.
“You can be well down the line with players at this stage of preseason but clubs can be waiting to get someone in before releasing players. It’s not just a matter of speaking to players to get it over the line and tie things up quickly.”
Meanwhile, Keith Watson is involved with Saints’ first team squad but he remains on the transfer list.
“Keith is still available for loan or on a firmer deal,” Wright said.
“His situation hasn’t changed from my point of view. I see his future lying away from the club.
“He is back fit and looking good and strong. But the emergence of young Aaron Comrie means we have someone who is more than capable of stepping in for Richard Foster if he was unavailable or lost form. That is why the decision was made on Keith.
“Keith is a great lad and certainly hasn’t been ostracised or anything like that but he hasn’t had the minutes on the pitch he would have liked.”
Saints continue to build up for the league season with friendlies, the next being a mainly under-age game at Dunfermline today.
Wright reported: “We had a bit of sickness with Ally Gilchrist and Graham Cummins both ill at the weekend.
“But Graham is back in and Ally will also recover quickly.
“Craig Thomson is coming back from an ankle injury and he wasn’t available either for the Hartlepool game.
“We have a game against an under-age Dunfermline side on Tuesday and Brian Easton will play in it.
“He hasn’t had a full pre-season and still needs more game time.”
Zander Clark should soon be available for consideration.
“There is a protocol for Zander to go through and Saturday was the first day he was clear of headaches,” said Wright.
“He should return to full training either later this week or early next week.”
“I suspect nothing will be decided quickly on Romain. TOMMY WRIGHT
Dundee United’s Tam Scobbie is relishing his first city derby.
Sunday’s Betfred Cup clash against the Dark Blues will be a step into the unknown for the former St Johnstone man.
The 29-year-old defender said the game will be “massive”.
“Our fans have sold out their allocation of tickets so they will be looking forward to going up the road to their big rivals,” he said.
The Tangerines will turn up at Dens in an upbeat mood, buoyed by Sunday’s emphatic victory over Cowdenbeath, which made it three wins from three in the competition.
Scobbie said they were disappointed with the “slack goal” they gave away.
However, overall, he thought the performances have been good.
Tam Scobbie knows all about Tayside derbies, having played in enough of them for St Johnstone.
However, it will be a step into the unknown for the 29-year-old defender now that he is at Dundee United when his side make the short journey to Dens on Sunday in the Betfred Cup.
As is traditional, the Tangerines squad will walk to their rivals’ ground, something that came as a bit of a surprise to Scobbie, who said: “I just thought we’d get the bus, to be honest!
“It will be something different that I haven’t experienced before.
“I am sure when the fixtures were announced all the boys wanted to be part of it.
“Everyone in the dressing room will make sure they are properly prepared to go there and hopefully get a result.
“It will be a massive game. Our fans have sold out their allocation of tickets so they will be looking forward to going up the road to their big rivals.
“The manager said we will need to prepare properly, which we will do.
“We have a rest day on Monday but starting on Tuesday we will look to build up to the game.
“I am sure they will be the same as I saw Neil (McCann) was disappointed with the Dundee performance against Buckie.
“He will be at them to make sure they are right up for the game against us as it is massive for them as well.
“It will be good to be involved in a big derby like that for the first time and I am really looking forward to it.”
Scobbie and the rest of the United players will arrive at Dens in a confident mood with Sunday’s 4-1 win over Cowdenbeath at Tannadice making it three wins from three in the Betfred Cup.
He said: “It was a good win and it keeps the momentum going.
“The manager has been speaking about that since I came in that these games weren’t just warm-ups.
“The season started from the first game and we need to keep progressing and winning matches as we have been doing.
“So it was a positive result against Cowdenbeath but we are just disappointed with the slack goal we gave away.
“It is something we have been trying to implement into our mentality that we do not concede goals so we will sit down, look at it, see if we could have done better and take that into Sunday.”
Scobbie added: “I think the performances have been good.
“The manager shuffled things about a little bit against Cowdenbeath.
“Some boys have picked up knocks but the lads who have come in have done fantastically well. “Matty Smith up top did brilliantly. “But everybody can take plaudits for the three wins as they were difficult games, especially so early on in the season. But they have been good for us.”
“Everybody can take plaudits for the three wins as they were difficult games, especially so early on in the season. TAM SCOBBIE