Dundee welcome Hearts to Dens Park this Friday night for their first visit of the season.
The sides met in October in the capital in an even contest which saw Dundee hit the woodwork four times but unable to find the net as the Tynecastle side ran out 2-0 winners. Since then there has been a change at the top with Ian Cathro replacing Robbie Neilson who took the reigns at MK Dons.
Manager Paul Hartley spoke to the press ahead of this Friday’s match. He said, “We went to Tynecastle earlier in the season and played well we hit the bar and the post four times. They are a strong outfit, they’re big, they play a certain way. A new manager has come in and he’s got a certain style about him so we expect a tough game, but we want to make it tough for Hearts also.”
“I think their style will probably stay the same, they’ll try and pass it out from the back, a possession based team. A team that will be on the front foot so we have to be ready for that.”
The festive period sees Dundee face three tough games in a week, asked how big the run of games that sees matches against Partick Thistle and St. Johnstone follow the visit of Hearts was, the manager said, “Massive, the next three games are vital for us but it’s all about Friday night and trying to get the points against Hearts.”
The manager also spoke about striker Rory Loy and confirmed he may leave the club on a loan deal, “Rory came to me and asked to go on loan. We’ve granted him that as he needs to play minutes. It will be a loan move but he needs somebody to come in and look at him first. With the age Rory is at, he wants to play first team football. With Haber and Wighton playing just now he sees his chances limited and he needs to have game time.”
The manager confirmed only Nicky Low and James McPake will miss out through injury while he does welcome Paul McGowan back into the squad following suspension which saw him miss the trip to Celtic Park last week.
Subscribers can watch the full press conference with James Vincent and Paul Hartley on www.dundeefc.co.uk/deetv now.
