Former fans’ favourite Neil McCann will be back in the dark blue of Dundee when Division One leaders Raith Rovers visit Dens Park.
It has been a landmark week for the club, with administrator Bryan Jackson securing a creditors’ voluntary arrangement on Tuesday to give hope for a brighter future.
The return of McCann, albeit as a trialist, will add to the feelgood factor as he is still fondly remembered for his wing play in the mid-1990s before going on to enjoy success at Hearts, Rangers and Scotland.
Now 36 and pursuing an alternative career as a Sky TV pundit, McCann has cheerfully agreed to help out boss Barry Smith, beginning with this match against Rovers.
“Neil has come in to help us out so will be named as a trialist,” said Smith.
“He has been training with St Johnstone and is in good shape, so he is more than capable of doing a job. His fitness is fine. Indeed, he ran the Boston marathon just a couple of months ago so that is not a concern.
“It is good of him to help us out like this.”
Despite the probability of his return adding a few more to the gate, Smith revealed McCann does not want to be the centre of attraction this afternoon.
“Neil believes the boys have been outstanding in achieving what they have so far and has told me he wants nothing taken away from that,” added Smith.
“They are the ones he believes should be in the limelight, and I have to agree with him on that score.”
Dundee may have secured their CVA on Tuesday, but Smith has urged fans to keep up their support.
“We need the fans to turn up in numbers because, although we have started coming out of administration, the club still needs money,” he said.
“This will be an attractive game because Raith are a quality side and top of the league. Their manager John McGlynn has done a fantastic job there over the last few seasons and it will be a real test for us.”
Raith winger Scott McBride believes his side are more than capable of bringing Dundee’s recent run of form to an abrupt halt.
Hailed as a “flying machine” by Rovers boss John McGlynn last weekend, the 21-year-old has |impressed in recent weeks and has established himself as something of a first team regular-playing a key role in the Kirkcaldy club’s march to the top of the first division table.
Now he hopes to play his part in the downfall of a Dundee side who stretched their unbeaten run to 13 league games without defeat after the 2-1 win over Queen of the South last week.
McBride has battled back from injury and illness to earn a starting jersey and hopes to repay McGlynn’s faith with another fine performance this afternoon.
“The overall performance of the boys against Stirling was fantastic and I’m just happy to be playing in the first place,” he said.
“I’m growing in confidence and that’s just coming with getting games I feel if I can do my wee bit here and there, and if I can get better and better I can keep myself in the team,” he said.
“Anyone can beat anyone and the first division is the hardest league to get out of. Because only one goes up, everyone’s fighting for their lives to get as many points on the board as they can.
“Dundee will be a hard game. I don’t think they’ve lost since they went into administration, so it’ll be a really hard game for us. But, if we stick to our guns and keep doing what we’ve been doing, I think it will be a good game.”
A doubt remains over defender Mark Campbell, who tweaked a nerve in his back which affected his hamstring last weekend. Willie Dyer and Allan Walker should be added to the squad after recovering from knocks.
Dundee’s main aim is to still be a First Division club at the end of the season, but the players have a secondary goal-win enough points to enable them to lay claim to be champions had it not been for the SFL imposing a |25-point deduction.
Defender Rhys Weston pointed out, “We could be really proud of ourselves if we were able to look back and think that, without the penalty, we would have been the best team in the First Division.
“It’s obviously a difficult one. We can’t control anything that happens off the pitch because we’re only here to do a job. Circumstances have conspired against us through no fault of our own.
“All we can do is keep accumulating as many points as we can, and it would be nice if we could reflect at the end of the season, knowing that we would have won the league if it weren’t for the deduction.
“I think it would send a message to all our doubters and those who’ve made it very difficult for us, that Dundee are here to stay. We were promotion favourites at the start of the season when we didn’t start that well, but have kicked on ever since.”
Beating the league leaders would be a big step in the right direction towards achieving both their targets.
The Welsh international said, “The frustrating thing is that it should be a top-of-the-table clash, but we’re on a good run of form at the moment in the league and Raith are obviously the team to beat.
“It promises to be a good, tough game but again we’ll go into it looking for a positive result. The fans have been unbelievable and I’d expect another big turn-out, so we’ll be giving our all for them as usual.”
Weston and his team-mates don’t want the shine to be taken off what has been an uplifting week off the pitch for the Dark Blues.
He said, “It’s been a long, difficult road up until this point. It’s by no means over and done with, but at least we can begin the process of coming out of administration.
“Obviously survival was the main thing, and the fact that Dundee FC is going to be around is the be-all-and-end-all. Now as players we can focus fully on trying to stay in the First Division.
“Of course, it’s a big weight off your shoulders because it’s been a topsy-turvy season, to put it mildly. In the remaining games between now and the end of the season we can focus totally on finishing as high up the table as possible.”