Rab Douglas admits Dundee saw their life in this season’s Division One title race flash before their eyes until scoring a last-gasp winner over Livingston.
With just seconds left on the clock the Dark Blues were looking at the prospect of slipping 10 points behind Ross County who have two games in hand and that would have all but killed off any hopes of promotion.
Jamie McCluskey opened the scoring for Dundee but they were hit with a strike from Marc McNulty before half-time and then went behind to a Neil McGregor own goal.
But Carl Finnigan equalised before McCluskey netted his second of the game from a corner kick with just a minute to go.
Dundee had been staring at their sixth draw in a row until the ball hit the net and Douglas admits another stalemate would have scuppered them.
He said: ”With Ross County winning again a draw here would have killed us. They are all must-win games now between now and the end of the season.
”All we can do is focus on ourselves, win our matches and hope the other teams take something off County.
”But you have to give them loads of credit. They have been out in front for such a long time and have been churning out the results.”
Douglas also paid tribute to the Dark Blues fans for their backing.
”With the fans we have here and I can’t praise them enough for the numbers they turn out in every week we owe it to them to keep going.
”You have guys who pay hard-earned money, travelling in buses and cars to get to games and to just sit back would be to cheat them.
”As professionals we want to win as many games as we can. For our own pride we want to win every match we’re involved in.
”If you didn’t have that desire then you’d be as well chucking it. We’ll keep going until it’s mathematically possible.”
Dundee have been one of the clubs eager for SPL reconstruction to take place and Douglas is in favour of expansion.
With Rangers in administration and other clubs suffering from money problems, the veteran hopes it comes back on the agenda although the ex-Celtic man takes no pleasure from seeing his old enemies suffer.
He said: ”You never know, there might be league reconstruction again at some point. With what’s going on with Rangers and other clubs in the SPL they might think it’s the best thing to change the structure.
”I have been through administration and it’s horrible. It’s the worst thing I have experienced in football. People lose their jobs both players and backroom staff it’s horrendous and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
”It’s a side of football you never want to see. It is happening in the SPL just now with Rangers and we are seeing it in England as well. It’s not nice but I think it shows that the money is going out of the game a bit compared to a few years ago.”
New Livi boss John Hughes was full of praise for his young team and insists they will grow more streetwise.
He said: ”It was frustrating but I was pleased with how much we put into the game. The lads were brave on the ball and tried to play the style we want from them.
”We will take this on the chin and get better at what we do. Small steps at a time but we will improve.”
Dundee manager Barry Smith was relieved to get the victory, saying: ”That was an important win because we didn’t want to fall further behind. My players deserve loads of credit for the character they showed to get back into the game and then win it.
”I also thought Livi were really good and they deserve plenty of credit too.”