| Paton was the sole familiar face in Dundee’s back line against Forfar, while three trialists — Gordon Gilbert (who has now left the club, see lead story), Johnny Flynn and Rhys Weston — were given their chance to impress Gordon Chisholm.
As a result, Dee fans will have to wait a little longer to find out exactly who they’ll be cheering on next season, but, according to Paton, that doesn’t mean the search isn’t going well.
“Getting a settled back four is obviously pretty high on the agenda just now,” he said.
“We do have a shortage of players at the back. We’re asking Craig Forsyth to play at left-back, which is maybe not where he’s most effective. “We’ve had plenty of guys in, though, and the gaffer’s being thorough about it. There’s no point signing people just for the sake of it. They’ve got to be able to do the job.”
There definitely seems to have been something of a revolving door for trialists at Dens this summer, but, far from being concerned by it, Eric is taking everything in his stride.
“Obviously, it’s a bit strange playing alongside boys you’ve never met before, never mind never played with,” he said.
“But these things happen every summer. I think the lads that came in on Tuesday did really well, all things considered.
“Rhys arrived only an hour before the game, so for him to come in and do well was impressive.
“The only real problem is communication when you’ve got trialists in. Having never played with the boys before can make things difficult, but you just get on with it. I don’t think we let Forfar create much on Tuesday, so I’m happy with how it went.”
“You’ve got to remember there’s also Dominic Shimmin to come back, Gary Irvine and myself, so all in all, I think we’ll be OK and whoever the manager brings in will definitely be the right men for the job.” |
