Dundee will continue to run the rule over Osman Sow after the striker boosted his chances of earning a deal at Dens with a powerful performance against Peterhead on Tuesday night.
The former Dundee United forward may not have scored in the 4-0 win but he still impressed alongside new loan signing from Celtic, Jonathan Afolabi, who opened his account for the Dark Blues with a cracking long-range goal.
Dundee assistant boss Dave Mackay admitted he was delighted with the contribution from Afolabi and Sow, with the latter giving the coaching staff food for thought as he continues to train with the club.
Mackay said: “Obviously there is an opportunity for Jonathan at the moment with Danny Mullen and Alex Jakubiak out injured although we are hoping they won’t be too far away.
“But it gives us a lot of good options.
“I thought Osman was also really good against Peterhead and stepped up his performance from last weekend.
“He is another week fitter after training with us as well.
“It is up to the manager and the chairman but he is one we will look at.
“Obviously we are looking at different positions as well.
If there are players who we think will strengthen us and give us better options, then we would be interested.
“Of course the way everything is with Covid and everything else, budget wise it is difficult to get all these players in that you want.
“But Osman certainly did himself no harm.
“They both looked excellent and gave us a different dimension.”
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Another player who had been training with Dundee, former Celtic full-back Daniel Church, is no longer at Dens but Mackay refused to rule out developments further down the line.
He said: “Daniel has not been in this week but it is not completely dead.
“We will see what happens with that one.”
Jamie Ness made his return from injury against Peterhead but fellow midfielders Shaun Byrne and Finlay Robertson missed out.
The latter was stretchered off on Saturday after injuring his ankle and has been wearing a surgical boot this week but the teenager is expected to make a quick recovery.
Mackay added: “Fin’s is a bit of a knock but it is not one that we are too concerned with.
“I can’t imagine he will be out too long. He is looking better already and it was just a precaution putting a boot on.
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“So he shouldn’t be out long-term, just a couple of weeks.
“Shaun has been back training but he is still feeling his thigh slightly.
“It is a little niggly one and we don’t want to get him back in and make it a long term one which is a danger with these sorts of thigh injuries.
“But we don’t expect him to be out for too long.”
Another player making a comeback on Tuesday night was young centre-half Sam Fisher who came on for Jordon Forster in the second half.
The 19-year-old needed surgery after suffering a cruciate injury in December and Mackay admitted he was delighted to see him return to the thick of the action.
He said: “It was brilliant to see Sam back.
“He has been out since he did his cruciate last year so it is fantastic to get him in.
“He has been training since we started back four weeks ago.
“That was always the plan to get him training for a while and then introduce him in the game against Peterhead.
“I thought he did really well when he came on.
“The good thing with a player like Sam is that he is not scared to make a tackle after having that injury.
“Some players might be a bit apprehensive but Sam comes in and just flings himself about.
“He is that daft it doesn’t matter if he has been out for over nine months.”
