Dundee will step up their hunt for another striker after Ash Hay was ruled out for up to six weeks with a medial collateral ligament injury.
The forward suffered a grade two tear on his MCL in the weekend win over Aberdeen. He is now in a brace, and manager Steven Pressley wants to bring in another forward to give the Dark Blues more attacking options.
Pressley confirms Hay's absence
Pressley said: "We got his (Hay's) results back this morning (Wednesday) and he will be out for six weeks. Although it's really disappointing, it's a lot shorter than I feared, to be honest. So, on one hand it's not good news, but on the other hand it's not as bad as we initially feared."
The manager added: "It's a blow because Ash has really impacted the last two games. A big theme of what I've talked about so far with the group this season has been that we really do need everybody. If we're going to try and play high-octane football, then we're going to have to make a lot of changes in games. And the two games he's come on, he's really impacted them."
Need for another striker
With Hay sidelined, Dundee are short up front. Pressley said: "At present we really only have now two what you'd consider natural strikers within the building. That's a consideration for us. We're probably going to have to go out and get another striker. I don't think we'll have one by the weekend. I know we're pursuing one just now. Our intent is to play with two strikers. So really, if that's our intent, then we probably need four strikers within the building. So we do need an additional one, and we're pursuing one at present."
Defensive targets
Dundee were already looking at defensive options. They remain in pursuit of Bromley captain Omar Sowunmi after having an offer of around £100,000 turned down, and are still trying to see if a deal can be struck.
Defender Matai Akinmboni is also on trial from AFC Bournemouth, with an option to sign him on loan. Pressley said: "He's impressed so far. He seems a really good personality, a really good type. But also, he's integrated well in the training, and he's impressed so far. The agreement was we would look at him over a two-week period. So this is still the first week, and then we'll assess by the end of the next week. But he's made a good impression."
