Dundee forward Carlo Monti may have joined the rest of the country in taking note of Forfar’s fabulous cup win over Rangers but says they would still command respect regardless.
The teams meet in the second round of the Scottish Communities League Cup at Dens tonight just a week after John Brown’s men edged to victory in extra-time in the Ramsdens.
The short trip is the reward the Angus men got for their famous success against the Ibrox club at Station Park earlier this month and no one at Dundee will be treating them lightly.
Monti said: “It is a hard game for us, especially after playing Forfar just last week and seeing how they made it difficult for us.
“We worked hard and in the end we got through to the next round and that is our aim again.
“They will hope to play as well as they did last week and they were decent at set-pieces and got their goal from one. So it is up to us to use the ball better, create chances and get a goal or two.
“We know Forfar beat Rangers and that was a great achievement but even if they hadn’t we would have been showing them respect. They put Rangers out on merit and then gave us a fright last week so we will need to be on our game.”
Monti revealed that Dundee have high hopes for the cup campaign.
“A run would be important to a club like ours and you want to go as far as possible,” added the frontman. “The League Cup is usually quite an open tournament.
“When you look at the teams who have done well in recent years even won it in the case of St Mirren and Kilmarnock then there is no reason why we shouldn’t be looking to go far.”
The Dark Blues failed to score against Raith Rovers in the Championship on Saturday but Monti is optimistic that they will be sharper this evening.
“We didn’t get on the scoresheet the other day but that was a tough away game,” he said.
“I don’t know if many teams will win there.
“If I score one myself that’s an added bonus because what really matters is winning the game. And I don’t feel any added pressure on me to score.”
Dens boss Brown won’t be making many changes to his line-up but he is looking for improvement from his players compared to the previous meeting with the Loons.
“We need to do better against them than we did last week,” he said. “That was a blood and snotters type game and we picked up a few injuries.
“But the boys are looking forward to this one and we will need everyone to stand up and be counted.
“Financially, a cup run would be massive for us. You saw how much playing against and beating Rangers meant to Forfar in that respect.
“It would be good for the players and huge for the club because we would maybe get a big game in the next round if we get past this one.”
Iain Davidson is likely to be sidelined for “two to three weeks” according to Brown, while Nicky Riley has done some training and Kyle Benedictus could make the squad.
The selection news is better for Forfar.
They have defenders Darren Dods and Stuart Malcolm available after both missed Saturday’s narrow derby defeat to Brechin City.
Manager Dick Campbell, though, will still be without Mark McCulloch and Keith Gibson.
Campbell was overjoyed when his players saw off Rangers in the last round but he feels they have failed to carry that form through to the league campaign and even the Ramsdens game at Dens.
“We beat Rangers and deserved to do so but we have not really kicked a ball since,” he said.
“Maybe I am being harsh on the lads because we were just six minutes away from beating Dundee the last time.
“I think this will be a different ball game to the last cup tie against Dundee and obviously I hope we come out on top this time.
“Dundee and their fans will be expecting to beat us because they are a full-time side but maybe we can make life difficult for them.”