Randy Wolters lapped up his first goal for Dundee – then set his sights on many more to make himself a firm fans’ favourite.
The 27-year-old Dutch winger became an instant hit with the travelling Dark Blues faithful who caught their first glimpse of him when he came off the bench to hit a late winner in Saturday’s 2-1 pre-season win, when team-mate Faissal El-Bakhtaoui had earlier cancelled out Steven Doris’ 17th minute penalty opener for the League One Lichties in sun-blessed Angus.
Wolters, who joined Neil McCann’s new-look Dens Park outfit from Go Ahead Eagles only a week ago, gestured with his hands for the Dundee support to make some noise on hitting his decisive 83rd minute strike at Gayfield and the new boy insists he’s on a mission to win a place in the hearts of the club’s loyal followers.
The former FC Utrecht and FC Den Bosch man has arrived on Tayside with a reputation for being a crowd-pleaser and got his time in a dark blue jersey off to the best possible start as they gear up for the real stuff to get underway when they travel to face Raith Rovers in the Betfred Cup on July 18.
Now, having already broken his duck for McCann’s men, Wolters is eyeing a flurry of goals in the season ahead when he hopes to give the Dens faithful plenty to shout about.
Wolters said: “For me this is special because it is the first time I have played away from Holland.
“I want to be an important part of the team here.
“I love the interaction with the fans and hopefully I can celebrate some more.
“I enjoyed my first game and am settling in well.
“I think we played better in the second-half, sometimes we gave the ball away too early but we can work on that.
“We got the ball to the wings, which is always good for me.
“We have a lot of good football playing players this season but it is important that we can both play good football and also be tough and manly when we need to in matches.”
Dundee, who continue their preparations for the new campaign with a trip to Brechin tomorrow followed by a visit of English outfit Bolton to Dens on Friday, had new boys Roarie Deacon, Lewis Spence and Jack Hendry in their line-up which was witnessed by a healthy travelling support who made the short journey down the coast from the City of Discovery.
But they fell behind early on when summer signing Hendry fouled ex-Dee striker Doris inside the box and he swept his spot-kick past Scott Bain.
Doris, who failed to muster a single goal in his 12-game stint at Dens in 2013, remained a threat for the rest of the first-half along with former Dundee forward Gavin Swankie as Dick Campbell’s hosts gave a decent account of themselves.
But El Bakhtaoui levelled in 80 minutes before Wolters finished from on-loan Celtic midfielder Scott Allan’s pass to spark his solo celebration.
Wolters joked: “I think I’m not that slow! And I love to get one on one with defenders and get crosses into the box.
“I love to shoot from distance but I can also be strong in matches.
“I like to use step-overs and best defenders so hopefully the fans get to see that this season.”
McCann, who hopes to add another striker to his ranks this week, admitted his side’s display over the course of the 90 minutes left him with much to mull over.
He said: “This gave me lots to look at and work on for the future.
“I couldn’t be too hard on the lads for the first-half because we were better after the break.
“All things considered, I think our quality showed in the end.”
Arbroath assistant manager Ian Campbell said: “It was a good work-out as Dundee are a quality side.
“I thought our lads did well.”
