Dundee have been given a boost with the return of defender Davide Grassi to training ahead of this weekend’s trip to champions Celtic.
The 27-year-old centre-back has been sidelined since mid-October after suffering a knee injury that required surgery but Grassi was back with the Dark Blues squad as they prepare for their date with the league leaders on Sunday.
With on-loan Celtic stopper Lewis Toshney ineligible for the game at Parkhead, Dundee assistant boss Ray Farningham admitted Grassi could potentially be thrown back in at the deep end although he and boss Barry Smith will wait and see how the Italian performs after a week’s full training.
“It’s a big boost to have Davide back in full training,” he admitted.
“We’ll monitor him this week with regards to the Celtic game but what he does bring is presence and experience.
“The Celtic game is maybe a wee bit too soon I would have thought but we’ll see how training goes this week and you never know.
“He’s had a tough time with injury this season so it’s just nice that he’s seeing some light at the end of the tunnel he’s keen to get back.”
Farningham revealed that the mood in the camp remains buoyant despite their narrow 1-0 loss at Aberdeen on Friday evening, with the players keen to get back to work ahead of this weekend’s task in hand.
“To be honest, training has been very lively and they’ve got a great game at the weekend against the league champions,” he added.
“Then they’ve got a derby after that and another derby, so there are plenty of big games coming up. As we said after the Aberdeen game, you really couldn’t fault the lads.
“I thought we played quite well but it’s the wee breaks that go against you.”
Meanwhile, Dundee were last night still awaiting international clearance for new boy Don Cowan.
The 23-year-old former Shamrock Rovers and Stevenage striker has joined the Dark Blues on a free transfer but needs the green light for clearance.