Peterhead loanee Jack Wilkie hopes he can follow the examples of Josh Mulligan and Lyall Cameron and get into Dundee’s first team.
Mulligan and Cameron have both had loan spells with the Blue Toon and gone back to Dens Park ready for more involvement.
Wilkie is taking the same route this season, joining Jim McInally’s team alongside Dark Blues team-mate Ewan Murray, and has forced his way back into a struggling Peterhead line-up.
The teenage defender was not short of counsel when it came to moving to Balmoor. As well as Mulligan and Cameron, former Dundee youngster Danny Strachan is also at Peterhead after making his loan move a permanent one over the summer.
Dens favourite Cammy Kerr also worked under McInally with the Buchan outfit earlier in his career while Scott Robertson – Dundee’s under-18s coach – had a loan stint with Peterhead early in his playing career.
Despite poor results, Wilkie has enjoyed the opportunity to play senior football and hopes he can emulate his team-mates’ fortunes.
“Josh was a full-back last year and now he’s doing really well for Dundee in the Championship,” said Wilkie. “I just hope that can be me.
“I speak to Danny most days and I spoke to Josh, Lyall and Cammy from their time here. Flynn Duffy (Dundee United defender) was at my school and I spoke to him about how things were last year. They’ve all said I need to stick in and listen to the coaches.
“I was at East Craigie last year and I loved that, as we were going for the league and there weren’t many weeks where I was losing.
“It’s been tough at times this year but I knew that going in, because they’re only one league below Dundee and of the quality of teams that are here.
“But I’ve really enjoyed it so far. Results have not been going our way but I have played against guys like James Craigen and Kallum Higginbotham and felt like I’ve done well.”
Working with Scottish football’s longest-serving manager in McInally has helped Wilkie’s development, as well as playing alongside ex-Tangerines defender Paul Dixon.
“Jim has helped me so much,” said Wilkie. “Because he’s a bit more old school, I feel like I needed to learn from him a bit more.
“He gives us a lot of feedback. If you think to yourself that you’ve done alright and he thinks otherwise, it’s good to have that reality check.
“Because Paul plays the same position as me, he’s helped me a lot. He’s talked me through games, even when we’re on the bench.”
Peterhead drew with FC Edinburgh last time out and head to Montrose on Saturday desperate for the points to climb away from the bottom of League One.
“The last time we played them they got Rory McAllister sent off and it changed the game,” added Wilkie. “They went tight and compact and we had to go for it a bit more.
“We’ve got to be confident and believe in ourselves. If results go our way, it could be the first time since I have been there that we’ve moved above Clyde.
“That feeling of winning against Kelty Hearts was amazing, the boys worked so hard for the three points. Hopefully, we can get another win on Saturday.”
