Dundee named a vastly depleted team to face Aberdeen on Boxing Day with just four substitutes – including their own assistant manager.
Dee No.2 Dave Mackay hasn’t played for five years since retiring at St Johnstone in 2016.
Mackay is now James McPake’s Dens assistant and he was registered as a player for the Dark Blues’ trip to Pittodrie such was the dire squad situation amid a Covid outbreak.
Not only that, but goalkeeper Harry Sharp is listed as an outfield player alongside the designated sub keeper, Ian Lawlor.
Completing the substitutes is 17-year-old Callum Lamb in a farcical situation that Dundee will feel calls into question the SPFL’s decision to deny their request for a postponement.
The City of Discovery side complained of having only 11 fit outfield players but their desperate pleas for a postponement fell on deaf ears.
McPake's struggling side have won just one of their last five Premiership fixtures and are at a huge disadvantage for the Boxing Day clash in the Granite City, their last before the expedited winter break.
