Dundee's Khizanishvili could face Kilmarnock

Dundee hope to be able to give a belated debut to Georgia international Zura Khizanishvili against Kilmarnock.

Khizanishvili has finally been granted a work permit after the Dens Park club appealed against an earlier, negative decision.

But a home bow against Kilmarnock is not assured as the defender has only just returned from his homeland.

He arrived on a free transfer when his Georgian club went bust.

Khizanishvili was on international duty as Georgia lost a World Cup qualifier 2-0 at home to Romania.

Dundee player-boss Ivano Bonetti has made it clear he will only pick him if he can prove his freshness as well as fitness.

Bonetti has himself been attempting a comeback, returning to Italy in a bid to overcome the torn calf that has sidelined him for weeks.

He is unlikely to feature in the starting line-up and that also applies to striker Fabian Caballero.

The striker is back in contention after months rebuilding his fitness since sustaining a serious knee injury in the first Tayside derby of the season. He has yet to return even to the bench.

Killie boss Bobby Williamson is also weighing up whether to hand out debuts with Spanish duo Jesus Sanjuan and Antonio Calderon having signed on frees in midweek.

The former Airdrie players were left high and dry by Steve Archibald's failure to take over the First Division club and Williamson moved to fill gaps left by Gary Holt's departure to Norwich and Ian Durrant's knee injury.

He said: "They are in the squad. I will make a decision whether to start with one of them or leave them out.

"They have had a couple of tough training sessions but they have not played a game for six weeks."

Calderon gashed a knee in training sliding to make a tackle on stony ground but the injury is not serious.

Martin Baker, the defender who declared he would never play for Williamson again after being left out of the CIS Insurance Cup final team that lost to Celtic earlier in the month, is still excluded.