Owen Beck has returned to Dundee for the remainder of the Scottish Premiership season.
The Liverpool defender returned to Anfield in January after making an impressive impact at Dens Park over the first half of the campaign.
Beck's performances captured the attention of both Celtic and Rangers, among others, but after playing for Liverpool this month, he could not be loaned to another club other than Dundee.
In a boost to Tony Docherty's side, Jurgen Klopp's Reds have sanctioned the deal and Dundee are set to confirm the news in the next 24 hours.
Asked about a deal at his press conference today, Docherty said: “There’s no update on that.
“Obviously there’s only two teams he can play for – it’s either Liverpool or Dundee. I would love it if it was Dundee because you know the effect Owen Beck had on the club and the fans.
“If we had any opportunity to get Owen back we would jump at the chance because he was such a pivotal player for us in the first period of the season.
“But it’s down to his parent club at the moment and we’ll just have to watch this space.”
Meanwhile, Docherty feels his opposite number Barry Robson has no need for sympathy as the Dundee manager warned they would face dangerous opponents at Pittodrie on Tuesday night.
Aberdeen boss Robson has faced calls for him to be sacked both at Tynecastle during his side’s 2-0 defeat on Saturday and on a banner outside Pittodrie since.
Dundee travel north two points above the Dons in seventh place in the cinch Premiership and Docherty knows all about the expectations at Aberdeen, given his eight-year term as assistant manager, where he worked with Robson.
“I don’t need sympathy for Barry,” said Docherty when asked about his former colleague. “Barry is a good friend of mine and Barry will deal with this in the way he deals with everything.
“I’ve got to say, he’s a good manager and he’s a brilliant guy. I’ve got loads of time for Barry.
“Listen, they have just recently been to a cup final, the run they had in Europe made a lot of people proud with the performances that they put in.
“Barry will deal with that. I don’t need to speak to Barry Robson and I don’t need to give him any sympathy. Barry will deal with that situation.
“They are a very good team. I watched their game back on Saturday and I thought they were excellent. For the first 0-55 minutes, they were really good against Hearts. They got a goal lead that unfortunately never stood for them.
“They are a good team and we need to be really careful, they are dangerous, they have a lot of really top players in various positions.
“I think Barry has recruited really well and I just see they have recruited again a good player in Killian Phillips.
“We know how dangerous they can be and it’s about Dundee and making sure we can exploit any weaknesses they have got and the strengths we have got in our team and get that across in our game plan.”
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