Dundee’s Gary Irvine is facing a race against time to recover from an injury problem before this weekend’s league fixture at Falkirk.
Dark Blues assistant manager Ray Farningham said the experienced defender is rated as doubtful for the game against the Bairns after going over his ankle during Saturday’s Dens draw with Hamilton.
He said: “Gary Irvine has picked up an ankle knock. It was quite a sore one and we will have to assess it throughout the week. At the moment, though, he has to be a doubt for the weekend.”
Farningham says the Dundee players have plenty to work on this week after what was a desperately disappointing performance against Hamilton.
He said: “They are an honest group of lads and you could tell how disappointed they were. But we had a meeting and a good chat with them this morning and everyone is upbeat again. I am sure we will get the right reaction from them at Falkirk.”
He added: “We have only played five league games and the bonus is that we have had four clean sheets. The down side is that we didn’t create enough chances on Saturday which is something we will have to work on.
“Prior to the Hamilton game, we have been creating opportunities but not taking them. But on Saturday we were lacking that wee bit, especially in the final third, and the passing was poor.
“However, despite the fact we didn’t play well, we did pick up a point.”
Saturday’s draw saw Craig Beattie make his Dundee debut after signing up at Dens last week.
Understandably, the striker, who had been without a club since being released by Barnet at the end of last season, is not fully match fit but Farningham added: “Hopefully another week’s training prior to the Falkirk game will help him.”