The Dens Park side has learned the transfer embargo imposed on the club while it was in administration is to remain in force.
Administrator Bryan Jackson met Scottish Football League officials in the hope of persuading them to allow the Dark Blues to make some loan signings now he has secured a creditors agreement, which starts the process of his own control of the first division side coming to an end.
The SFL were not for turning, however, and boss Barry Smith will have to make do with the slimline squad currently at his disposal for the rest of the season, albeit with the possibility of bringing in more Tom Brightons and Neil McCanns as three-game trialists.
Smith said, “We didn’t expect anything else, so we’ll just have to get on with it. All the players that we’ve got here are going to have to put in the same shifts that they have been over the last few months, which I know they are capable of doing.
“But we’ll get injuries and suspensions and we won’t be allowed to get people in to cover that.”
Saturday’s win against Raith Rovers lifted Dundee into fourth bottom place in the division, but Smith warned that safety is still a long way off.ToughHe stressed, “We’ve not achieved anything yet and we’re still very much in a relegation battle. We have to be realistic it’s going to be tough.”
He also pointed out that the task of sourcing short-term trialists will get harder.
He explained, “There aren’t going to be as many players who we could bring in over the next couple of months as there were during and just after the transfer window, but we’ll keep trying to do what we can.”
Dundee were hit by a 25-point deduction and a ban on signing players after going into administration last year with debts of £3.8 million.
Jackson sacked nine first-team players as well as management duo Gordon Chisholm and Billy Dodds in an attempt to balance the books.
That has left manager Smith with just 12 players, but even though the wheels are in motion to come out of administration the SFL won’t allow Dundee to add any new faces until Jackson signs off his work at the club, which is likely to be at the end of the season.
Chief executive Harry Maclean added, “We spoke to the SFL about the transfer embargo and asked the question, but they have told us it will remain in place until we come out of administration.”