Dundee defender Darren O’Dea was in a quandary when asked if he felt Greg Stewart was ready for a big move to England.
You see, O’Dea would love nothing more than for his pal to stay at Dens Park but he also had to tell the truth when assessing whether or not the 26-year-old playmaker has what it takes to take the next step up in his career.
Stewart helped the home fans, at least for 90 minutes, to forget about the controversial departure of top scorer Kane Hemmings with a man-of-the-match performance in Saturday’s 7-0 rout of Forfar in the Betfred Cup.
Stewart scored twice – he has six this season already – and was involved in almost everything else in what was a comfortable and classy display from the Dark Blues at the end of a tough week.
The result, as one-sided as it was, still wasn’t enough to see them into the last 16, with Peterhead going through as Group A winners and East Fife missing out despite grabbing second spot ahead of Dundee.
However, scoring seven in the absence of Hemmings provided a timely boost ahead of the start of the Premiership campaign at Ross County on Saturday.
The great hope of the supporters is that Stewart, who was watched by a Birmingham City representative against the Loons, stays for that match and many more to come.
However, Blues boss Gary Rowett has now confirmed his interest in Stewart and if he does go then O’Dea is backing him to light up his new club.
O’Dea, whose assessment of what it takes to make it at Championship level down south carries weight due to his loans spells at Reading, Ipswich Town and Leeds United while still on the books at Celtic, said: “He is definitely ready, although I should probably say he’s not so they don’t want to sign him!
“I would like to see him stay but what will be, will be.
“If he does move on then everyone here will wish all the best because he has been fantastic.
“I think there is more to him and that he can go and get a lot better.
“That is saying something because he is some player already.
“We see him in training every day and he does things properly. He is a fantastic person to have around the place.
“These are all things that matter, especially when you go up the levels.
“I think he can get better, fitter and stronger.
“His ability is top class and if we can keep hold of him then that’s fantastic but if we can’t then it’s something we need to deal with.
“He is a very good pal of mine and I speak to him all the time and I tell him that I think he can be a top, top player.
“But he needs to develop every part of his game.
“Certainly, for us he has been fantastic and he’s a credit to Dundee.
“There is a lot of talent in Scottish football and I think we have our fair share of that.”
O’Dea praised his Dens teammates for rattling in seven goals despite missing Hemmings but acknowledged that County will be a harder proposition than Forfar.
He said: “Kane is a good lad and popular player so we were hurting a little bit when he left.
“But that’s football and you have to move on.
“He was a good player for us and a real character who did plenty more than just score goals.
“He has gone and got a move that he’s happy with and everyone is delighted for him.
“Dundee is bigger than the one man so we move on and I thought it was great to see us get so many goals.
“It was a great response for the lads.
“With no disrespect, we were playing against a team from a lower league and we will have a tougher game next Saturday, that’s for sure.”
Having finished a poor third in Group A, it is now all about the league for the Dark Blues.
O’Dea added: “We knew we were out the cup after Tuesday’s result (a 2-1 defeat at Peterhead) so we needed to feel good before the start of the league season next Saturday.
“We wanted a good performance and result going into training next week.
“We managed to do that.
“Now we need to start about putting in a performance up at Ross County.”
Goals from Paul McGowan, Michael Duffy and Stewart gave Dundee a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Julen Etxabeguren made it four for the Dens men on 55 minutes before Stewart shot home his second of the match 10 minutes later.
Number six arrived on 72 minutes and it was converted by sub Rory Loy then the hard-working Yordi Teijsse got the goal his display deserved with a header two minutes from time.
Dens boss Paul Hartley was a satisfied man at the end of trying week for him in particular.
He said: “It was a good, polished, professional performance – we were terrific.
“We moved the ball and scored great goals.
“Players come and go and you get bad results but it’s how you cope that matters.
“We had criticism but you’ve got to battle your way through it.
“We know we are a good team.
“We are good value for money, we entertain and play in the right manner.”
It was a terrible day for the visitors but the important thing now for Forfar boss Gary Bollan is to be ready for the start of their League Two campaign away to newcomers Edinburgh City on Saturday.
He said: “It was a sore one to take. It was a bit of a doing and 7-0 is embarrassing.
“I thought Dundee were very good, quick, sharp and had good movement.
“Let’s face it, we are not going to come up against a team of Dundee’s calibre week in, week out.
“One performance doesn’t make us a bad side and I’m sure the lads will pick themselves up and be ready for Saturday.”
