Dundee kick off their Premiership preparations on Saturday at Station Park, taking on Gary Irvine’s Forfar Athletic.
There will be new faces on both sides for the expected crowd of around 200 home fans to take in.
Away fans aren’t permitted, so Dees will have to make do with an online stream if they want to watch the action live.
But what should supporters expect to see?
Some new faces, some familiar names
In the home dugout there will be some familiar faces for Dundee fans.
Former Dens favourite Irvine has a backroom staff with a definite dark blue tint after being joined by Gary Harkins and Scott Robertson.
Harkins had three spells as a player with the Dark Blues and joined his old team-mate as first-team coach at Station Park.
Robertson, meanwhile, will combine his assistant manager gig for the Loons with his youth coaching role at Dundee.
He played over 100 times for the Dark Blues before joining rivals Dundee United and winning the Scottish Cup in 2010.
On the pitch, Dundee fans will have new signings Luke McCowan and Ryan Sweeney to run the rule over.
McCowan is an attacking midfielder who has impressed in the Championship with Ayr United, winning the club’s Player of the Year award last season.
Central defender Sweeney, meanwhile, joined the Dark Blues last week after leaving Mansfield Town.
The hosts have a new signing to show off too after midfielder Mark Gallagher arrived on loan from Aberdeen this week.
He’ll be hoping for a first run out alongside fellow new signings Stefan McCluskey, PJ Crossan and Matthew Aitken.
Former Kilmarnock and Dundee United man Craig Slater is also a recruit.
New kit
Dundee will emerge in the Angus sunshine – hopefully – in their new-look strip for the 2021/22 season.
The traditional dark blue top has been complemented by white and light blue flashes around the trim.
It garnered rave reviews from the Dens Park faithful when announced.
Another Macron beauty 😍💙 pic.twitter.com/kMsarpkA54
— Callum Hynd (@StaBwaHynd) May 18, 2021
Trialists?
Though they will have some new signings playing, Dundee are not expected to have any trialists on show this weekend.
Young Luton Town player Corey Panter is training with the Dark Blues with a view to a loan deal.
The left-sided defender signed a new contract with the English Championship side this month and the Hatters are keen to get him some first-team experience.
✍ We are delighted to announce that Corey Panter has put pen to paper on a new development contract with the Hatters!
The young defender will head north tomorrow to begin pre-season training at Dundee, with a view to a potential loan.
Well done @PanterCorey 👊#COYH
— LutonTown (@LutonTown) June 19, 2021
However, he can’t play as a trialist in the friendly at Station Park since he is registered as a Luton Town player.
Panter, though, will continue to be assessed by Dundee next week.
Returning favourites
Dundee are likely to welcome a couple of key men back to first-team action in Fin Robertson and Alex Jakubiak.
Former Watford man Jakubiak took a place on the bench in the closing fixtures of last season but managed just one sub appearance after recovering from a bad thigh injury.
His first season at Dens Park was almost completely written off by two long-term injuries.
The thigh issue came in just his fourth appearance after an ankle problem kept Jakubiak out at the start of the campaign.
Robertson, meanwhile, damaged ankle ligaments in training at the start of the year, ruling him out for the remainder of last term.
The highly-rated youngster is looking to build on his impressive debut season after a difficult time in 2020/21.
His last match came at the end of February.
For the hosts, Forfar captain Michael Travis is nearing a return after 15 months out with injury and could well make an appearance for the Loons this weekend.
The South African missed the entire 2020/21 campaign as Forfar dropped into League Two.
However, he is determined to be back to help the Loons in their quest to return to League One.
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