Dundee head coach Steven Pressley has confirmed the club will aim to make early decisions on the six players who are out of contract at the end of the season. Captain Simon Murray, Callum Jones, Imari Samuels, Drey Wright, Ash Hay and Harry Sharp are all in their final years. Attacker Charlie Reilly is also in a similar position, though the club holds an option to extend his deal for another 12 months.
Early decisions preferred
Pressley said: “We have six players out of contract at the end of the season, so that’s something we’ll be taking a look at. I always think dealing with it the earlier the better.”
He added that contract talks are an ongoing process: “I speak with David (Longwell, technical manager) and Gordon (Strachan, technical director) about the renewal of players’ contracts all the time. So it’s always ongoing. We have quite a lot in contract next summer because we’ve been conscious of not having the amount of turnover there has been in the past.”
Wales impressing
Pressley was also pleased to see Bobby Wales score in Scotland under-21s’ 5-2 win over Azerbaijan. The striker, on loan from Swansea City, had earlier scored twice in a closed-door victory over Partick Thistle.
“Bobby scored twice in the bounce game last week before going away to join up with the Scotland U21s. He’s looking a lot fitter and sharper now so he’ll get real benefit from that,” said Pressley. “Players always need a bit of time to settle and adapt, especially when you’re coming to a new team not having been playing much first-team football.”
He added: “Bobby has been working hard on his fitness, he’s been doing a lot of extra stuff to get himself up to speed. Against Partick I really liked the look of him, he’s looking sharp and strong. Going away with the U21s will be good for him, especially if he gets competitive minutes playing in their games.”
Priority to get Wales up to speed
Pressley admitted that getting Wales into top gear is the priority. He said the club spoke to Tony Docherty and his staff about the striker’s training needs while he is away with the under-21s.
“We spoke to Tony Docherty and his staff about him and his training because Bobby needs plenty of work. If he’s away and not getting the minutes, he still needs to have that appropriate load to get him to where we want him to be. What we don’t need is him coming back not having advanced his physical condition. Tony (Docherty) and his staff were very good about it, they were receptive and accommodating. They told us they’d certainly be pushing him hard over the couple of weeks he’s with them.”
