Hartley is happy with Dundee’s unbeaten start to the season and is especially pleased with centre-half pairing of Thomas Konrad and James McPake.
Hartley said: “James has been great for us so far this season. I’ve been happy with Thomas Konrad as well.
“The pair of them just go about their business but James’ leadership qualities have shone through. He’s a talker, he leads by example as well and he inspires the people around him.
“We’re delighted to have him because he’s everything you want in a centre-half. He wants to defend, he’s not interested in looking pretty and be passing the ball all the time.
“James likes making tackles and putting his body on the line. His biggest thing is stopping the opposition from scoring goals — if he does that he’s happy.”
However the manager still feels we need to bring in more players to help strengthen the squad.
“I feel we’re still short in certain areas like left-back — you saw that when Willie Dyer went off injured in the Partick Thistle game.
“The balance wasn’t right when he went off, so a left-sided player would be good to get. And I’d still like to bring in another centre forward as well.
“It might be that we have to do a bit of business with players going out, maybe a few of the young lads out on loan.
“The likes of Cammy Kerr could do with getting some more experience so it would be good for them.”