Until Friday, interest in Casement had been kept from the public view, but assistant boss Ray Farningham revealed he has been on the radar for some time.

“He is one we knew about through contacts down south and he is the kind of player we are looking for. We’ve been working on this for a while, so it’s good to get it done,” said “Jinky”.

“He can play at full-back and give us cover in the centre of defence. He is a player who has played at a high level and is now a full international, so we are very pleased to be getting him.”

It’s at right-back that Dundee see Casement slotting in and that will release skipper Eric Paton for midfield and a berth boss Jocky Scott thinks he can excel in.

That does not mean interest in others for that area of the park has ended, and Brian Kerr remains on course to be signed up by the end of the week.

The bid to bring in sought-after Livingston striker Leigh Griffiths, meanwhile, remains up in the air.

Negotiations with controversial Livi chairman Angelo Massone continued over the weekend, but, despite the prospect of bringing in £100,000 for his cash-strapped club, the Italian has still to give a definite yes to the Dundee offer.

Massone has other matters to deal with and, as well as the £32,000 Livingston owe an electricity company, he is due West Lothian Council £280,000 in rent by the end of the month.

Today, a separate £10,000 due in rent was handed over to the council and that has staved off the immediate threat of administration.

Massone is adamant the club will survive, but, if it does go into administration, Dundee now fear that could lead to Griffiths ending up at an SPL club in a cut-price deal.

St Johnstone have made an enquiry and it is understood several others are monitoring the situation, though the apparently imminent collapse of broadcasters Setanta will slash the transfer budgets of most SPL clubs.