Dundee will be without two striking options for tonight’s crunch clash with table-toppers Ayr United.
The Dark Blues travel to Somerset Park for tonight’s Championship contest, live on BBC Scotland.
Gary Bowyer’s squad is largely free of injury but the Dens boss is remaining careful with a couple of players who have had big injury problems in their time at Dundee.
This season’s top scorer Alex Jakubiak has been missing since picking up a hamstring injury at the start of August.
He has been training but won’t be risked at Somerset Park with a busy week next week.
Likewise, Cillian Sheridan, who returned to the bench for the clash with Arbroath a fortnight ago but missed out at Greenock Morton last time out.
Bowyer said: “Cillian missed last week, he trained on Thursday but won’t be involved tonight.
“Jakubiak we’ll see. There’s no mad rush for him, we just want to keep him right with games on Tuesday and Saturday next week.”
‘Bullen should’ve got the Sheffield Wednesday job’
Bowyer expects a difficult test against the Championship’s early leaders.
And he knows how good a coach the Honest Men have in their dugout, having come across Lee Bullen in his time at Sheffield Wednesday.
In over 10 years coaching at Hillsborough, the former Dunfermline man took caretaker charge of the Owls on three occasions, stepping in when Carlos Carvalhal, Jos Luhukay and then Steve Bruce left the club.
After the third spell, Bullen took up the job as U/23 manager at Wednesday before departing for Ayr United in January.
“I know Lee Bullen from his time down the road,” Bowyer added.
“There was a time where he should have got the Sheffield Wednesday job in my opinion when he was caretaker.
“He’s taken over at Ayr kept them up last year. Now he’s had the summer this year to reshape it completely and they’ve started very well.
“They look a good outfit so we know how tough a game it will be.
“Friday night under the lights, live on TV again, I can’t wait to get there.
“They are top of the league and I expect them to have a go at us.
“We’ll be the same so it’ll be two good teams going at it and hopefully it will be a good game of football.”
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