Importance of Dundee team selection revealed as Steven Pressley prepares for return to Scottish league action.

The Dark Blues begin their Premiership campaign at home against Hibs on Sunday, but there will be no new signings before then.
Dundee will not have any new faces in their squad for Sunday’s Premiership opener against Hibernian. The Dark Blues are content with what they have right now, despite manager Steven Pressley’s repeated statement this week that he still wants to add five or six new players to his squad.
Pressley was speaking at a live event for Courier Sportpodcast Twa Teams, One Street, where he outlined the positions he hopes to strengthen.
There is only a month left in the summer transfer window, which closes on September 1. However, time has almost run out for the Dark Blues in terms of transfer activity before the Premiership season begins.
Pressley stated, “It’s tough going right now. There’s nothing we’re close to right now. “We are working hard, and we are trying to be realistic about our expectations, but we also want to bring in players who can improve, and we aren’t there yet.
“I’d be very surprised if the squad changed before Sunday.” “Every day, more names come to us, but nothing has yet said, ‘yep, absolutely’.
“And then the ones that we thought were good viable options, the clubs aren’t ready to make a decision on them right now.
“So it’s that sort of situation just now.”
Importance of team selection
Despite the fact that his squad falls short of his expectations, Pressley says his Dundee side is eager to return to league action.
It will be the new Dens manager’s first Premier League game in charge since taking over from Tony Docherty in the summer. And his first appearance in Scottish league football in over 12 years, since leaving Falkirk for Coventry City in 2013.
Though his options are more limited than he would prefer, Pressley insists that team selection will be thoroughly considered during his tenure.
Speaking on Thursday, he stated: “We’re going to talk about a few things today to make sure we get it right. “From experience, I believe that as a coach, you can spend a long time working on a tactic and forget how important it is to make the right team selections.
“In the past, I may not have spent enough time on that. “But it was something I wanted to do when I first started this job to ensure that we chose the right players.” “So we’ll spend the afternoon as a team discussing our thoughts on that.
“I try to take more time on that.
“Although, for the time being, one of the difficulties is that we don’t have a lot of players for certain positions, so some are easy to fill. “But in other areas, when I get the group together, my intention is to spend time establishing the team.
“Because I believe that one player playing in the right position in the right situation can be the difference in a game. “I think the tactics are important, but the team selection is also really important.”
Team news
Dundee finished their league preparations with a home game against Hearts on Wednesday. Pressley described it as a “excellent exercise.
” Every player came out unscathed, so only one player will undoubtedly miss out on Sunday. Charlie Reilly is recovering from a broken collarbone, while Simon Murray remains doubtful despite positive news about his knee injury.
Read more on sportupdates.co.uk



Leave a Reply