Griff’s always done his talking on the pitch.. he’s not going to shut up now
McPake hopes Leigh’s snub has him firing
JAMES McPAKE admits there is no guarantee Leigh Griffiths will stay at Dundee for the rest of the season, because he expects there will be plenty of interest in him.
Celtic have ripped up their former striker’s contract and Griffiths, who was on loan at Dens, will make a decision on his future before the end of the month.
Dundee have yet to decide whether to offer him a permanent deal and when asked if Griffiths had other options, boss McPake said: “I would imagine so. He is a good player.
“He has been working hard and all I am really interested in at this present moment is that Griff is in the squad for our next game.
“Hopefully that left foot is working and going back to one of his old clubs in Livingston he can affect the game and that brings a positive outcome for the team he is playing for, which is Dundee.
“He has had talk about his future before. Nine times out of ten with Griff he does his talking on the pitch. That is what we are looking for him to do in this game”
McPake is still looking to add to his squad and admitted he is a fan of Hibernian pair Scott Allan and Christian Doidge.
Allan would be available but Hibs don’t want to let striker Doidge go. Allan had a previous spell at Dens and McPake said: “Scotty was a good player when he was here obviously and I have seen Doidge play a lot against my teams before, they are both good players but they are Hibernian players.”
A loan for Osaze Urhoghide still hangs in the balance with the Celtic defender preferring a return to England in the short term.
McPake said: “Again, that was one that we thought we might have had done by now.
“There have been a couple like that. Could it still happen? Possibly.
“As I say, he is a player who I think has a few options. “
“We are seeing there are a lot of clubs and players who are taking their time. It is not what we want to hear. We want to act.” Striker Jason Cummings will remain part of the squad as he waits for Australian side Central Coast Mariners to complete the paperwork on a move. Meanwhile, Dundee midfielder Shaun Byrne has revealed he didn’t hesitate to sign a new deal at Dens despite interest from England. The 28-year-old was linked with Lincoln and Bradford but, has signed a deal that will keep him at Dens Park until 2024. Byrne has been out since October with a knee injury but is now fully fit and pushing to make his comeback against Livi. He said: “I wasn’t really worrying about it at all when I was injured, I just wanted to focus on getting back to full fitness. “To be fair to the gaffer, as soon as I got injured, he said I would be fine and the club wanted to sort something out. “I’ve been relaxed about it and I just wanted to concentrate on getting back fit. I am settled here, my family is settled here and we have fostered a wee girl.
“It would be hard to leave without my missus and wee girl so I honestly never thought about it.”
Byrne was more concerned about his knee injury than his future but now wants to make up for lost time
He said: “I am buzzing as you don’t realise just how much you have missed it until you are back.
“I knew straight away when it happened that it was a bad one.
“I couldn’t get up and I felt something in my knee.
“That was the first bad injury I’d had for a long time so it has been tough.”
Byrne knows Dundee will have their work cut out when they head to his old club tonight. He still keeps in touch with Livi boss Davie Martindale and knows he owes him a lot. He said: “I had gone stale at Dunfermline and kind of stalled.
“It was Davie who signed me at Livingston and he gave me a lot of confidence. I still have a good relationship with him.”