With Dundee United currently 10 points adrift at the foot of the Premiership, to say their position at the top table of Scottish football is in jeopardy would be an understatement.
However, recent signing, Guy Demel, insists the Tangerines can still mount a great escape and he bases his belief on the precedent set by a star-studded Hamburg side he played in that found themselves in an even more desperate situation in the Bundesliga but rallied to finish the season in sixth place.
The 34-year-old, who should be a definite starter against Hearts at Tynecastle tonight, said: “We had a season like this when I was at Hamburg in the Bundesliga.
“We had a lot of players injured and we started the season really badly.
“I think we had six points in December but we finished sixth in the league.
“We had players like Rafael van der Vaart, Vincent Kompany and Nigel De Jong so we had a good team but we were bottom of the league.
“We also had a lot of new players but they needed time to settle. We started losing games and then there was a bit of bad luck, a penalty there, a mistake there . . .
“The quality was there but we just had to start winning games.
“It turned for us in January after the Bundesliga winter break. We drew 1-1 with Arminia Bielefeld but we played really well and then won the next game.”
Demel, who has also played for Borussia Dortmund and West Ham, knows that United also need to turn the corner sooner rather than later and he insists they will have a far better chance of doing so if they can keep the door shut at the back.
He said: “That is something United have to start thinking about, clean sheets.
“That will take us out of this situation. If we keep a clean sheet, just one goal will get us a win.
“But clean sheets are not only about the defenders, it is the midfielders, the whole team together.
“No-one can afford to think, ‘This is not my job’. We have to be all together.
“When we start to have clean sheets, then we will begin to win games.
“It takes mental toughness, cleverness and commitment.”
With the points gap now sitting at double figures, Demel was asked if he had tried to work out in his head how many games United need to win to be safe but he replied: “No, I am really bad at mathematics.
“It is still too early to say and we just need to start winning matches.
“At the end of the season, we will see where we stand.
“I think we have been good in the last couple of games but not good enough.
“Some of the teams we have played haven’t been great but they have still managed to get a point or win the game against us.
“In our situation, we need to be great to win the game.
“Hopefully on Wednesday at Hearts, everyone will put in a top performance.
“Since I arrived here, I have played in two games but I also watched two live matches before my debut and I thought the team deserved to win.
“But every time, one player made a mistake, conceded a goal straight away and we have been punished.
“That’s why we need to have a game without any mistakes from anyone.
“We need to be great in every department and I hope that will be the case against Hearts.”