Jim McIntyre hailed the impact of new signing Martin Woods on his full debut in the 1-1 draw with St Mirren.
And the Dundee boss is hoping the former Ross County midfielder can build a telling partnership with Glen Kamara in the middle of the park.
The Dens boss thought the two complemented each other well against the Buddies and was impressed with Woods’ staying power, playing 90 minutes in his first start since May.
He said: “Martin was really struggling in the last 10 minutes.
“He felt a wee bit of tightness in his hamstring as well.
“He just managed through it to the end as we had made all our subs by then.
“But I thought considering he has not been involved in a team structure, then he did remarkably well.
“He used his experience and I thought him and Glen looked very strong together.
“I don’t want sitting midfielders, I want them to be getting up and around the box.
“I thought on Saturday, Glen and Woods really complemented each other, they were excellent.”
Woods, meanwhile, is one of a number of players the physio is keeping an eye on over the international break.
The Dundee boss added: “Woods has a tight hamstring and Benjy Kallman has a bit of fluid on his knee so we will see how that settles down.
“Andy Boyle’s stitches are in a really awkward place on his kneecap.
“If you burst the stitches it can take a long time so we have been really careful with him.
“Roarie Deacon has a thigh strain but we think it is not as bad as the problem he had previously so, hopefully, we will see him sooner rather than later.”