Dundee will play their two home Premier Sports Cup matches at Brechin City's Glebe Park.

The club announced the venue switch for fixtures against Annan Athletic and Inverness on Monday as works continue to improve the playing surface at Dens Park.

The decision comes in order to allow the playing surface at Dundee's home ground to be in the "best possible condition" for the new Scottish Premiership season.

A number of matches were postponed at Dens Park last season with the club hit with a fine by the SPFL over the call-offs. The club were fined £186k with £120k suspended until the end of next season.

Now, club chiefs insist they have "invested heavily" to improve the pitch with the extra time needed to help turf bed in. Dundee B will also play at Glebe Park in the SPFL Trust Trophy as part of the deal.

Dundee head groundsman Paul Murray said: “Firstly I would like to thank the club for their continued backing throughout the entire renovation process. The renovation has not been without its challenges, but with the club's full support, we have managed to overcome these issues to help the process run as smoothly as possible.

"We have taken the decision to move the two home Premier Sports Cup games based on the short amount of time between completing the renovation and the aforementioned fixtures. With the pitch being seeded less than four weeks ago, and with so much sand and rootzone going into the drainage lines and onto the pitch surface, I was concerned for the overall stability of the pitch.

"Moving the two home games gives us another 18 days to have the pitch in optimum condition for the start of the league campaign.”


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A club statement read: "Dundee Football Club can today confirm that we will play our two home Premier Sports Cup matches at The Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park, the home of Brechin City.

"This decision has been taken in order that the new pitch at The Scot Foam Stadium at Dens Park is in the best possible condition for the start of the league season.

"The club have invested heavily in the pitch during the close season, installing a new secondary drainage system before building the pitch up with 200 tonnes of rootzone to provide a fresh new playing surface.

"As seen from the pictures included, the pitch is progressing well, however, the club want to give the pitch as much time as possible to bed in and be ready for our first league match of the season at home to Hearts on Saturday 10th August.

"As part of our agreement with Brechin City, Dundee B will also play their SPFL Trust Trophy First round match against Formartine United at The Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park. The match will take place on Tuesday 30th July and ticket information will be announced in due course. We would like to thank Brechin City for their support in arranging these three matches at their home stadium.

"Ticket information for our two Premier Sports Cup matches against Annan Athletic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at The Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park will be released tomorrow."