Finnigan delight at Dens deal as he aims for SPL

Finnigan made an instant impact for the Dark Blues during a brief loan spell from St Johnstone towards the end of last season when he hit three goals in five appearances before requiring knee surgery which cut his season short. Now the 25-year-old striker, who signed a permanent deal with Barry Smith’s side last week, is vowing to hit the ground running as the Dens Park club aim to secure a long-awaited return to the top-flight.

Finnigan said: “I’m delighted to be back here on a permanent basis. It was a breath of fresh air coming here on loan season because I wasn’t having the best of times at St Johnstone. I really enjoyed my short time here so it was an easy decision to come back. I didn’t have to think twice about it.

“I was gutted when I got injured and knew my season was over as I still felt I had a lot to give to the team. As soon as the injury happened, I was just praying that I’d done enough here to get the chance to come back. There were a few other things in the pipeline but [Dundee] was always my first choice. So basically there’s unfinished business here. By the time I came to the club last season, Ross County had more or less ran away with the title. It was a shame we weren’t closer to challenging but I can’t wait for a fresh start to get up where we want to be challenging for the league.”

Meanwhile, Dundee chief executive Scott Gardner spoke of his delight at landing the ex-Newcastle youth. He said: “We’re thrilled to have Carl. We’ve been working round the clock to do so as we feel he can be a big player for us.”