McPake expects Elliott and Kerr to push each other on

DUNDEE: Manager expects former Jags defender to continue impressive impact at Dens

Variety is the spice of life and Dundee boss James McPake certainly hopes his squad will keep him on his toes next season.

The Dens Park gaffer has made the first moves to secure his team for next season, despite the continuing uncertainty over the game emerging from the coronavirus shutdown.

The club announced they had triggered a one-year extension clause in the contract of wing-back Christie Elliott last week.

The former Partick Thistle favourite joined up in January after falling out of favour at Carlisle following Steven Pressley’s departure and made an immediate impact.

Impressing in the right wing-back role, Elliott came to the club as direct competition for full-back Cammy Kerr and McPake is expecting strong competition to push the pair on next season.

The 28-year-old spent eight years at Firhill in the top two tiers of Scottish football, knowledge that made him an easy fit at Dens.

McPake said: “He’s an experienced player and I could remember playing against him.

“He’s different to what else we have, looking at Cammy Kerr. The two of them are very good players but they are very different as well.

“I think you could see that in the way we used them in certain games.

“Christie’s character fitted in well, he was bubbly in and around the dressingroom.

“What impressed me the most was he hadn’t played for six weeks at Carlisle but he came up here and played game after game for us.”

The Dundee boss was also delighted to see the reaction from the Englishman after he was dropped for a match at Ayr United on March 7. That came despite being part of a team that had kept three clean sheets on the bounce against Partick, Queen of the South and Alloa.

After coming on as a sub in the second half and doing well, Elliott regained his starting spot for the next match three days later against the same side with another two clean sheets picked up against the Honest Men.

McPake added: “He was left out going down to Ayr. As a manager that was a tough call after three clean sheets, but he accepted it, came on and did well – then he was excellent three days later at Dens.

“In that situation, he could have thrown the toys out the pram, but he didn’t.”

Picture: SNS Group. Christie Elliott: Impressed in the right wing-back role since his arrival at Dens.