Dundee boss Tony Docherty is giving his injured stars every chance of proving their fitness ahead of the weekend trip to Aberdeen.
The freshest concern is for talented youngster Lyall Cameron after he was forced to withdraw from the Scotland U/21 squad through injury.
The Dens gaffer says the timing of the issue wasn’t ideal for the attacker after “turning a corner” with his impressive display at Hibs in September.
“Lyall has a slight tear in his thigh. He’s not back training yet,” Docherty revealed.
“But hopefully later this week/start of next he’ll be back.
“That’s being monitored with a view to the Aberdeen game. We’ll make a decision on that later in the week.”
‘Turned a corner’
Cameron had found himself on the bench at the start of this season after impressing so much last term.
The 21-year-old started the first two Premiership matches of the season, scoring a key equaliser on the opening day against Motherwell.
But had dropped out of the starting line-up lately – until Dundee’s last game at Hibs on September 30.
He’d also begun to make an impact with Scot Gemmill’s U/21 side, playing 90 minutes in their narrow defeat away in Spain last month.
So the injury couldn’t be worse timing for the youngster.
“He was brilliant in the last game against Spain. I had conversations with Scot Gemmill and he was very happy with both Lyall and Josh Mulligan,” Docherty added.
“Now we have Fin Robertson getting a chance as well.
“As well as Scot being pleased with Lyall I was really, really impressed with his performance against Hibs.
“He turned a corner if you like.
“He had a few things to work on. Lyall is a really talented footballer, it was about getting him to really play within a structure.
“We’d been doing a lot of work on that, he was working hard on it as well.
“And I think he put in a really mature performance at Easter Road.
“But Sod’s Law, he gets injured in training ahead of the next game. He won’t be out long but he’s going in the right direction, absolutely.”
Zach Robinson and Scott Tiffoney
Cameron isn’t the only injury concern for Docherty to deal with this week.
On Friday he revealed Zach Robinson had been nursing an Achilles complaint for some time.
He isn’t yet back training and neither is Scott Tiffoney after he was substituted at half-time against Kilmarnock.
But there is positive news for two others.
“Zach Robinson still not training with the squad, neither is Scott Tiffoney. Hopefully, they’ll be back training later this week,” Docherty said.
“I’m pleased to say Jordan McGhee returned to training on Monday and so did Charlie Reilly.
“That’s a real positive because they are back well ahead of schedule.”
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