It’s starting to look like it will be a two-horse race for the Championship title and automatic promotion.
Dundee needed that win against Ayr United on Tuesday night and they are probably the only realistic threat to Queen’s Park now.
I would expect Owen Coyle’s team to drop points but Ayr are now eight back and that’s an unrealistic gap to close with only seven games to go.
Four adrift for Dundee doesn’t feel insurmountable at all given they play Queen’s Park on the last day of the season.
And also given the impressive performance they produced to see off Ayr at Dens.
Good morning 🙌 🙌 🙌 #thedee pic.twitter.com/KcIHfyNRuz
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) March 22, 2023
Hopefully on Friday night Arbroath will have made Dundee fans even more optimistic by beating Queen’s Park.
We obviously need the win for our own selfish reasons.
Things are building for us – even though we know that a run of draws isn’t what we’re looking for.
We weren’t at our best against Morton last time out but we dug in for a point and Derek Gaston’s double-save to deny Ali Crawford is the sort of moment that can turn a season around.
Derek’s been excellent for us this season.
I can only think of one game – against Dundee actually – when he has been off-form.
We need to get ourselves in front.
A win against the league leaders would be a huge result to pile the pressure on Hamilton and Cove.
It’s great to hear that Kevin McNaughton is in a much better place now after his struggles with depression.
A lot of people were worried a while back when he made his cry for help on social media.
It’s always nice if you can reach out to somebody when they’re struggling a wee bit.
I managed to get his number and I checked in with him.
🗣️ "I've got a future that didn't seem possible back then."
Kevin McNaughton opens up on his battle with depression following retirement from football and why Tweets he sent last year were "a cry for help" ⬇️
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 22, 2023
It’s a minute of your life to try and make sure somebody else is in the right place.
It was lovely of him to mention me being one of the people who got in touch. I’m sure there were loads of others.
Life after football can be tough for a lot of players – in the social media age it can be tough while you’re in the game as well.
You do think to yourself – is there enough support for ex-pros out there?
Probably not.
Mark Robertson arrived at Dundee a few months after I left for Celtic.
He was a popular guy at Dens Park by all accounts and his son was born in the city.
This isn’t like the Harry Souttar case when he was involved with the Scotland under-age teams until the 21s.
Australia are building up a fair-sized contingent of boys who qualify for us, though.
Martin Boyle is one of their main players and Jason Cummings has turned his career around to play at a World Cup.
We got Lyndon Dykes, though.
And he hasn’t done too badly.
It is a reminder that the SFA do need to be on the ball to pick up players because Australia seem to be as good as anybody out there at the moment in sourcing talent.
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