However, the former Inverness Caley man was pencilled in to take his first steps on the road to recovery with a run-out tonight and on Saturday, when Dundee travel to take on Rangers reserves in another closed-door fixture.

“Bobby will play this evening and it’s good to see him back,” said boss Alex Rae today.

Also in with a chance of seeing some action tonight were Danny Griffin, Andy McLaren and Derek Lyle, who was taken off at the weekend against Livingston with 20 minutes to go.

“Derek is a wee bit behind the rest of the lads in terms of fitness. He hadn’t played any games for Queen of the South before he came to us, so he’s playing a bit of catch-up at the moment.

“These two games will allow some of the boys who have been missing out recently the chance to get some match practice under their belts.”

Meanwhile, with less than 36 hours to go until the transfer window closes, the Dens gaffer was still working hard to bring in a new face.

“We’re still waiting to hear back from a guy in England, but there is nothing concrete yet,” added Alex.

“It may be the case that other clubs have to bring someone in before they are prepared to let men go, but I’m willing to wait right up to the deadline if I have to.”

“Steven has taken a bit of a whack on the ankle and had to come off. He’ll be in with the physio today and we’ll have a look at it,” said boss Craig Brewster.

Also featuring yesterday was former Dundee defender Lee Wilkie, who played the opening half in the 1-1 draw.

“Lee did alright for his first 45 minutes and now it’s just a case of building things up towards a full game. As I’ve said before, there is no rush,” added Craig.

For his part, the former Scotland man was just delighted to get part of a game under his belt.

Speaking to the Tele today, Lee said, “To be honest, it was good just to get the game over and done with. I’ve been in this situation before and the main thing is just to come through it.

“I’m not feeling any ill-effects today and it’ll now be a case of just stepping it up over the next few weeks.

“With internationals coming up, I’m not sure what the situation in terms of games is, but the next step is probably to get an hour, then 70 minutes, then a full game.”

Meanwhile, with the transfer deadline on the horizon, the manager reported it “all quiet at the moment” on any possible deals.

He intimated one of the players is not Airdrie United winger Willie McLaren, a player Saints have been linked with.

Meanwhile, Saints have announced a new sponsor. The Auchterarder-based King Group, a construction company, are sponsoring the jerseys of Saints’ U/14, U/15 and U/19 teams.