Dundee boss Paul Hartley is hopeful that Jim McAlister will be available for the weekend trip to Inverness after making a quick recovery from a hernia op.
The midfielder went under the knife at the start of last month after playing through the pain barrier with the problem for several weeks.
The procedure coincided with Dundee’s long lay-off between the game at Ross County and the home match with Aberdeen with Hartley now hoping McAlister will be fit enough to make the Caley game.
However, three others will definitely not be heading to the Highlands with Gary Harkins (stress fracture), Gary Irvine (knee) and Luka Tankulic (knee) still working their way back to full fitness,
Hartley, who used last week’s international break to work on his pro licence, said: “We are looking forward to it, getting back to a normal working week having the players ready and prepared for a tough game at Inverness on Saturday.
“We have given them rest when required and they have trained hard also.
“It has been a bit unusual and it is a bit like the start of pre-season so we have tried to mix it up a little bit.
“Jim will join back in with the lads. He has been doing a bit of work with the physio but he will probably do the warm-up today and then work with the fitness coach with a view to being in the squad for Saturday.
“We will see how he is over the next few days in terms of his recovery.
“He has only missed the one game since having the hernia op so it has been a good recovery for him.
“However, Harkins will still be out, along with Irvine and Tankulic.
“Luka needed two to three weeks total rest on his knee.
“They are getting better to be fair but they will not be ready for Saturday.
“However, we are more hopeful for McAlister and Kevin McBride.
“Iain Davidson had a good run-out for the Under-20s last week after returning to training.
“So he is back after a long spell out.
“Greg Stewart also had a three-week period out where he basically didn’t do anything.
“We had to throw him back in for the Aberdeen game so hopefully he can get a good training week in and be fit again for Saturday.
“We hope to have the strongest squad available for the run-in.
“We will look to have everybody back and hopefully we will look strong.”