“There is no question we would have preferred to hang on to some of the boys who’ve left, but the way the game is these days means you are never going to have a summer where there aren’t people leaving and new faces coming in,” said the ex-Clyde man.

“And when the gaffer has got people of the quality of Rab Douglas and Colin Cameron coming in, you have to feel that, in terms of experience and ability, you are going to have a strong team — I’ve been here 18 months now and the squad’s never been this strong before.”

Although the campaign is kicking-off at Recreation Park with a Challenge Cup tie, McHale insists there is a determination to get off to a winning start.

“First of all, it does not matter what the competition is, you always want to win your games. Tomorrow, the importance goes beyond that because we want to get the season off to a good start and show that we are up for what is to follow.”

With the belief at Dens being Hamilton’s now torn-up plastic pitch was a big reason why they won last season’s First Division promotion race, it is perhaps ironic that tomorrow will see Dundee play on another of the country’s synthetic surfaces.

It’s not something McHale is particularly looking forward to, but he has no fears over it.

“A lot of our pre-season was on Astroturf in Malta and we played a game on it over there.

“We’ve probably never been this well prepared for a game on it. I’m not saying we will enjoy it, but we are ready for it.”

Dundee have been forced to drop their interest in trialist Makhtar N’Diaye after it was confirmed he broke his arm against Bradford and will be out for a prolonged period.

Despite more reports to the contrary, Freddie Daquin has not been freed and is in tomorrow’s squad.

The Dark Blues have again been linked with Steve Lovell, but the club were adamant no transfer business was set to be done before tomorrow.