Former Hearts star turns rival booster as he's declared key asset in fight for Premiership survival
A former Hearts loan star could return to boost Dundee's battle against relegation from the Premiership.
A former Hearts loan star has been backed to return from injury and boost Dundee’s hopes of mounting a successful battle against relegation into the Championship.
With the final international break of the season now all but over, Tony Docherty’s side will return to league action this weekend when they host Rangers on Saturday evening. As it stands, the Dark Blues occupy the relegation play-off spot after a run of just one win in their last nine games that included a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Hearts.
If there was a positive for Docherty and his players, it came in their final game before the two-week break as two goals from Jordan McGhee and a goal apiece from Scott Tiffoney and former Hibs forward Simon Murray helped them to what could be a crucial 4-2 win at local rivals Dundee United.
However, Docherty is hoping for a further boost over the coming days and weeks as former Hearts loan signing Scott Fraser nears a return to full fitness after undergoing surgery on a groin injury. The midfielder joined Hearts on loan from English League One club Charlton Athletic in January last year and provided two assists in 12 appearances before returning to the Addicks at the end of the campaign.
A permanent return to the Premiership was secured during the summer when he joined Dundee on a free transfer - and Murray made three appearances as his new side claimed three points from home games with Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, as well as an away day at Motherwell.
However, the latter of those fixtures proved to be the last time Murray was seen in action as a groin injury and the subsequent surgery have left him watching on from the sidelines for the last five months. After suffering a slight setback ahead of his side’s Dundee derby win last time out, the 29-year-old is now closing in on a return to full fitness and Dark Blues boss Docherty is hopeful he can return before the end of the season to boost his squad ahead of the final stages of their battle against the drop.
He said: "Scott's still injured. We were trying to get him ready for the derby recently, but sadly he suffered a wee setback leading up to that game. We're just going to have to monitor that and rest him up a bit. Hopefully we can resume his training to get him back to that level where Scott will be in contention for starting some of the remaining games. It's not a serious problem, it's a setback. We just needed to withdraw from his training a little bit so we can hopefully get him ready for the upcoming games."
Dundee will round off their fixtures before the Premiership split with home games against Rangers and St Mirren plus a visit to Hibs.