DUFC

STEPHEN ALL RIGHT

7th June 2001

After an injury-hit first season at United, defender Stephen Wright is expected to be ready to challenge for his first team place at the start of the new season.

The former Aberdeen and Rangers star made a promising start when he joined the Tangerines in August but a knee injury picked up against Hearts back in October effectively ended his campaign. "Stephen played a couple of under-21 games near the end of the season, but we took him out because it was felt he needed to build up the muscles at top of his legs a bit more," explained boss Alex Smith on Thursday.

"We've had him on a special training programme and he should be ready to go when we start pre-season training. That's a big boost because he is a quality player who can operate in most of the positions at the back, so that will add to our options."