With Dundee having slumped to a 3-1 defeat at home to struggling St Mirren on Saturday to cap off what had been a miserable December without a win, you could be forgiven for thinking the last game Dark Blues boss Paul Hartley needed was one at the home of their local rivals.
However, the Dens manager believes that the New Year’s Day derby at Tannadice against Dundee United is the perfect match to kick-start his side’s season once again.
Hartley said: “I don’t think you should need motivated for a game like this.
“It’s a derby with a full house and it’s on TV. It’s a game where you want to go and do well in.
“And the players know they didn’t perform the way we know they can (against St Mirren).
“We’ve had a bad month that’s for sure.
“But with the start of the New Year approaching, the results could be better.
“Sometimes the form goes out the window in derby games.
“I’ve been there as a player when a team is struggling and they can’t get a result. It’s a totally different game.
“It’s a match where the players are focused on doing well in.
“We know we let ourselves down on Saturday and I don’t think there’s a better game for us now.”
Hartley admitted in the immediate aftermath of the St Mirren match that his side had produced their worst performance of the season so far.
He has now had a chance to mull over the reasons for the flat display and he is confident his players will be ready to go once again against United.
He said: “You analyse it over the weekend and what went wrong.
“We obviously didn’t play like we know we can. It wasn’t a good performance.
“We’ve got to try and dust ourselves down to get ready for Thursday.
He added: “I just think we have had a bad run of results and that can happen throughout the season.
“We haven’t had our strongest team out on the park during that time.
“We have had too many injuries and we’ve not had a settled side.
“So we just need to get players and our form back.
“We also need our confidence to return and hopefully we will be ready to go again.
“The players trained well this morning and we’re definitely looking forward to it.”
Hartley admitted that while the results this month have been disappointing, he is learning a lot about his squad and himself in adversity.
He said: “I think you learn more about the players and yourself when you are on a bad run.
“The only way you can get out of that is to keep working hard and hopefully things will turn a little bit.
“I am sure they will as we have a good group of players.
“I know they want to do well but we are just having a sticky patch at the moment.”
Keeper Scott Bain has missed the last two games because of a shoulder injury and Hartley is relieved that a scan has now revealed that the 22-year-old will not need surgery although he will be unavailable for the derby while two others are doubtful.
Hartley added: “Simon Ferry is struggling after getting a kick on his ankle against Partick and so is Kevin McBride. They are doubtful for Thursday’s game.
“James McPake took a knock against St Mirren but should be fine.
“Scott Bain will be missing for the next two to three weeks.
“He doesn’t need any surgery though which is the good news. If he needed an op we were looking at months out.”