MAYBE it’s apt that in the city which gave us Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids, Wanderers had a Beano at Dens Park.

After looking Billy Whizz in the first half, it was a shade more Ivy the Terrible after the break but goals from Gary Madine and Josh Vela were still enough to ensure the Whites’ 100 per cent pre-season record stayed intact.

It has certainly been a productive week for Phil Parkinson’s side north of the border, where they return with a couple of handy performances under their belt and a brand new signing in tow.

Sammy Ameobi had trained not-so-secretly at St Andrews with the squad this week but was finally given his public bow in what proved an entertaining victory.

The former Newcastle United man got his first 45 minutes of action in what could be a strong hint at what side Parkinson could be looking to name on the opening day against Leeds United.

The general consensus among Bolton fans is that Parkinson needs to sign at least one more striker before the season starts. But the Whites boss must draw encouragement from the fact both of his senior front men are already off the mark this summer.

Adam Le Fondre netted a penalty at Arbroath and is looking sharp and Gary Madine was in exemplary form last night at Dens Park.

He opened the scoring with an effortless finish, latching on to a long ball from Ben Alnwick 20 minutes in and slipping his shot under the advancing Scott Bain.

And for the rest of his time on the pitch, Dundee’s defenders struggled to get anywhere near the Whites target man, now completely clear of last season’s shoulder problem.

He disappeared down the tunnel along with nine other substituted players on the hour mark to a deserved ovation from the 165 travelling support in the corner of the ground.

Parkinson reverted back to the shape he used at the very start of his Bolton tenure, wide men Will Buckley and Sammy Ameobi cutting in from the wide positions and Josh Vela supplying the link between midfield and attack.

As Darren Pratley and Jem Karacan gradually wrestled control of the midfield in the first half, Wanderers looked more and more likely to grab a second.

And on the half hour, Ameobi combined with Madine to find Vela on the right edge of the box; one quick shuffle of the feet later, he drove a fine shot inside Bain’s far post.

No-one played more football for Wanderers than Vela last season but while he had a whale of a time in the number 10 position for most of his time in League One, the home-grown hero still has a point to prove in that part of the pitch at Championship level.

Here, he constantly picked up good positions around the penalty area and could have helped himself to a couple more before the wholesale changes on the hour.

Dundee kept knocking on the door after the break and Mark Howard made two superb saves from Marcus Haber and Faissal El Baktaoui.

But he could do nothing to stop Paul McGowan’s angled drive with 14 minutes to go, which briefly threatened to let the SPL side back in.

Dundee had won each of their four previous games in pre-season but couldn’t capitalise on their goal in the closing stages – with Wanderers looking the more likely to score and trialist Haris Tabakovic sending a late shot dipping just over the bar.

Wanderers: Alnwick (Howard 45); Darby, Wheater, Beevers, Taylor; Karacan, Pratley; Ameobi (Taylor 45), Vela, Buckley; Madine.

Subs on 60 minutes: Little, Dervite, Le Fondre, Derik, Tabakovic, King, Brockbank, White, Lonsdale.