Bottom of the league and goals having dried up, Dundee fans would be forgiven for fearing the worst this season.
However, they don’t have to look too far to see how a slow start doesn’t mean the season will be a disaster.
Just look at Saturday’s opponents St Johnstone.
This time last year Saints were also scrambling around at the foot of the Premiership table.
And had managed just one goal in six matches, not scoring in three consecutive league games heading into October.
🏆 Scottish Premiership table pic.twitter.com/0F9LGE8FJD
— SPFL (@spfl) September 27, 2020
Come May, though, the campaign was as far from a disaster as any Saints fan could wish it to be.
Last season ended as the greatest in the Perth club’s history with two major cups in their trophy cabinet.
Dundee can’t replicate that kind of success having already been knocked out of the League Cup but it’s as clear an example as needed that the Dark Blues can still have a successful season.
One goal in six for Saints
By the end of September, St Johnstone had seven points from nine matches having beaten Kilmarnock and St Mirren.
Callum Davidson’s side were struggling for goals, though, having lost to bottom side Livingston 2-0 in the last match of September.
A sole Stevie May strike – one that earned victory over the Buddies – was all they managed for six matches.
By this point in the Premiership season, Saints had only scored four times. That’s the same as Dundee this term, though they have played two fewer matches.
St Johnstone’s drought would continue for another match into October, Leigh Griffiths scoring in a 2-0 Celtic win, before they smashed five past Hamilton on the road.
In the second half of the season, Davidson’s men found their stride. Finishing in fifth place and winning the League Cup and Scottish Cup.
Dundee’s history of slow starts
Dundee, meanwhile, have regularly been slow starters in the past decade.
Their best return by October was 12 points in 2015/16 with Greg Stewart, Kane Hemmings and Gary Harkins banging in the goals.
However, picking up victories early in the season has not been the way of things for the Dark Blues.
Under James McPake, the first seven matches in each of his two previous seasons each yielded just two league wins in the Championship.
In 2016/17 under Paul Hartley, once more they only managed one win in the first seven league matches.
That was immediately after the departures of Hemmings and Stewart as the likes of Faisal El Bakhtaoui, Rory Loy and Yordi Teijsse struggled to replace their goals.
In league games before October since 2011, Dundee’s average win rate in the top two tiers stands at just 25%.