Dundee assistant manager Ray Farningham is hoping a fit-again Nicky Riley will provide the Dark Blues with a creative “X Factor”.
The 27-year-old winger made his return from a medial ligament injury in the 3-0 victory over Livingston on Friday night in what was just his second appearance of the season.
The former Celtic player came on for a memorable 30-minute cameo appearance and set up Peter MacDonald for a simple tap-in for the third goal following a mazy run through the visitors’ defence.
Now, Farningham is keeping his fingers crossed that Riley can stay free of injury and enjoy an extended run in the side.
The assistant boss said: “It was great to have Nicky back on Friday night. He showed what he is capable of when he came on.
“He has that ability to go past players and create. It was definitely something we were missing in previous games, that creative side of it.
“Supporters love that and so do I there isn’t enough of it in the game. The problem with Nicky last year was that he was always picking up niggly knocks so he really needs a run of games to get going fully.”
Farningham revealed that two of Dundee’s injury victims are easing back to fitness and that Kevin McBride who hobbled off after 77 minutes against Livingston has made a rapid recovery.
He said: “Nicky and Kyle Benedictus are back in full training with the squad and hopefully Iain Davidson and Steven Doris may return before the end of the week. Barra (McBride) also trained today despite taking a sore one on Friday night.”
Meanwhile, it is understood that St Mirren defender Lee Mair will not be joining the Dark Blues for what would have been his second stint with the club.