Dundee will have key midfielder Glen Kamara available for Saturday’s Premiership opener at St Mirren.
But the form of his deputy for the past two games, Lewis Spence, means last season’s Player of the Year is not a certain starter.
Kamara was back in the squad for the weekend win over Brechin in the Betfred Cup but gaffer Neil McCann decided not to take any chances with the Finnish international.
And Spence’s display, that included his first goal for the Dark Blues, has left Neil with a big call to make for this weekend.
“I think the midfield area is very strong, so there was no point throwing Glen in if he wasn’t ready but he will join us again this week,” said Neil.
“Glen’s a huge player for us but he’s now looking at the performance of Lewis Spence and I’ll need to take a decision.”
Striker Sofien Moussa will also be back in contention this weekend. He had taken painkilling injection to the rib knock suffered against Dunfermline last week to enable him to face Peterhead on Wednesday.
Neil decided not to go down the same route on Saturday to make sure he’s ready for the Paisley clash.
“Moussa was a bit sore from the injection and we could probably have forced him to take some more but I felt we’d have enough against Brechin.
“If he had more injections we’d have run the risk of him missing a few days’ preparation for St Mirren, so we decided not to.”
After the 2-0 success over Brechin secured qualification for the knockout stages of the Betfred and set up a tie against Ayr United next month, Neil believes his side are in a good place going into the start of league hostilities.
“I was pleased. I think we were really in control of the match and looked very comfortable.
“We could have won by a lot bigger margin than we did but the most important thing for us is we are through to the next stage.
“I think their keeper had some excellent saves, I think I counted three or four top-class saves.
“I think we were a bit wasteful and there’s always that thing nagging at the back of your mind because you’re not sure what the other teams are doing. However, the most important thing for us is we have progressed.
“St Mirren will feel they are in a good position scoring so many goals in their tie but we are as well because we have progressed.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.