Docherty has been without several key players in recent weeks
Dundee boss Tony Docherty is keeping his fingers crossed Lyall Cameron, Jordan McGhee, Ziyad Larkeche and Seun Adewumi will be back for the trip to Hearts.
The quartet have all been out injured and receiving treatment during the cup break. Dundee go into the bottom six fixtures looking to get out of the relegation play-off slot.
Docherty confirmed: “We have a few out of training right now who we are hoping to have back by the end of the week in Seun Adewumi, Jordan McGhee, Ziyad Larkeche and Lyall Cameron.
“I hope to have everyone back for Saturday. (Adewumi) He’s just got a wee niggling injury that we’re looking after.
“It was important that he get a bit of time off, because he’s not been home since he came to us. So he had some time to rest and reset, time with his family.
“He returned on Monday but he has a wee injury he picked up with the under-21s that we need to look after. Hopefully we’ll have him back training over the next few days.”
There might have been no official game but Dundee had a friendly against Arbroath to keep themselves ticking over on Friday. Their manager explained: “We wanted it in a stadium with referees as well to make it a proper game.
“The players got the weekend off and it’s been back into it on Monday and we’re really pleased with the atmosphere around the players, the pace and quality of Monday’s training session. We got minutes into players that we needed to.”
Playmaker Scott Fraser was amongst those who got invaluable game time as he looks to get his first involvement since October.
Docherty claimed: “He’s looking good. He took part in the practice match on Friday. He trained on Monday morning.
“We’re not getting too far ahead, but we’re trying to build up his minutes as best we can.
“But he’s making progress, absolutely making progress.”
Dundee have recently advertised for a new head of recruitment. Docherty explained: “It’s just an ongoing development, we’re looking to strengthen things.
“Going into next season where a lot of players are out of contract, we’re just looking to supplement what we’ve got.
“It’s just another example of the club trying to expand. It’s always evolving.
“The club’s always evolving and you need to be at the sharp end of things.
“This appointment hopefully will allow us to get there. It’s looking to the future and, as I say, it’s credit to the club for being forward-thinking.”
