An opening day defeat to Partick Thistle and a televised battering by Ayr United may have stuck in the craw of many expectant Dundee fans.
While those performances will still be in the minds of more pessimistic Dees, the defeats mask a more positive stat for Gary Bowyer’s side.
Saturday’s 3-0 win over Queen’s Park saw Dundee hit the 10-point mark, moving them up to third in the Championship table.
After six games, The Dee have racked up three wins, a draw and two losses.
It may come as a surprise to some, but that stands as Dundee’s best start to a league campaign in eight years.
Not since the 2014/15 season in the Premiership have Dundee hit double digits at this stage.
In fact, even their Championship-winning season of 2013/14 did not get off to a start as good as this one.
After six games under John Brown they were sat on eight points after two wins, two draws and two defeats.
Positive numbers so far
So what can Dundee take from their promising start and what must they do to ensure they build on their solid early foundations?
While the Dark Blues have shipped six goals in total to Ayr and Partick – early front-runners for the league – elsewhere they have looked fairly solid at the back.
Going forward, they pose a real threat having drawn a blank just once, against Morton.
All areas of the team have contributed to their 11 goals this campaign, with forwards Zach Robinson and Zak Rudden starting to hit form with three goals apiece.
They have attempted 61 shots on goal with around a 50% accuracy rate.
That amounts to an 18% conversion rate of shots on target into goals, the second best in the division behind Partick with 21%.
As they found out against the Honest Men, though, they need to start putting more chances away.
At the back, young stopper Harry Sharp has kept three clean sheets while only having 18 saves to make – an average of three stops per game.
That hints at a fairly stable backline.
However, the Dark Blues CAN still keep it tighter.
So, far they have conceded eight goals – twice as many as the start of their famous 13/14 season.
Gary Bowyer will have a tough decision to make as to whether he brings skipper Ryan Sweeney back into the side against Cove Rangers on Friday night.
The Englishman is available after serving a suspension, but will the Dundee boss stick with the side which kept out an impressive Queen’s Park?
We will find out in three days’ time.
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