Greg Stewart believes Dundee will face a Kilmarnock outfit with more than a few points to prove after the opening day game between the two sides ended in a thumping 4-0 victory for the Dark Blues at Rugby Park.
The 25-year-old striker netted two of the goals in that game with his team’s overall performance having fans and pundits alike purring with approval.
In contrast, considering the lamentable display of Gary Locke’s side, it was no surprise to see many tipping them as prime candidates for the dreaded drop this season.
However, Killie have picked up since then and now sit on 12 points just four behind Dundee having won last week against Inverness.
And Stewart is fully aware they will be determined to right the wrongs from that opening-day embarrassment at Dens this afternoon.
He said: “It was a perfect way for us to start the season.
“Not just winning and getting the three points, the way we played and the way it could have ended up it could actually have been a lot more.
“But Kilmarnock have picked themselves up from the start of the season.
“They’ve picked up a few points in recent weeks and have done really well since the opening day.
“It’s going to be a tough match.
“They will want to try and get one over us after the last game.
“So we need to be at the top of our game again and hopefully we can get the three points.
“If they had done that to us, we would definitely be trying to turn them over this time.
“So I can see them thinking the exact same. They’ll want to come here and try to get the three points as well.
“They have a few players who have done well for them after getting a bit of stick at the start of the season.
“They’ve proved their critics wrong and will be going to do that again in this game.
“We’ve just got to play the way we want and know we can, by getting the ball down and take our chances when they come our way.”
Dundee certainly set the bar high in terms of performance against Kilmarnock back at the start of August and Stewart admitted that in some ways, the players had made a rod for their own backs.
He said: “I know why people might say that.
“When you set that kind of standard, you become a target right away and you want to keep it up.
“But we’ve only shown it in patches this season whereas we would have liked to have kept that going.
“All the boys know what we can do on our day.
“Hopefully we can do something along those lines on Saturday.”
Stewart made a huge impression last year, netting 15 times for Dundee and winning a PFA Scotland Player of the Year nomination.
He has carried on where he left off this term with five goals to his name already but that has meant he is becoming a marked man literally.
He was the victim of a crude challenge against Motherwell at the start of this month that had his manager Paul Hartley calling for greater protection for Stewart from referees.
However, the player himself insists football is a man’s game and he will just continue playing the way he wants.
He added: “As an attacking player, when you run with the ball you’re expecting to get tackled.
“It was a bad challenge against Motherwell but I’m not saying the boy meant to do it.
“I got lucky, I didn’t miss any games through it.
“In saying that, it’s a man’s game you’re going to get tackled and that’s just the bottom line.
“You can say you can get protection but, at the end of the day, the refs can only give what they can see.
“Maybe it’s a sign of respect that I’m getting extra attention.
“If you’re scoring nearly in every second game then maybe you are going to be viewed as a danger to the opposition.
“But I just play the way I normally do. I don’t really think about it that much.
“It’s just part of the game and I haven’t changed my style at all.”