Dara Costelloe admits it would be the best St Patrick’s Day present ever for him if Dundee can beat Rangers at Dens tomorrow.
The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international joined the Dark Blues on loan from Burnley at the start of January after spending the first half of the season farmed out to St Johnstone.
Costelloe was recalled to the Dundee starting line-up on Wednesday night and helped Tony Docherty’s side beat Aberdeen to move back into the top six.
Now, he is hoping Irish eyes will be smiling on St Patrick’s Day and Dundee can make it two wins in a row by defeating the Glasgow giants.
Costelloe admitted: “A win against them on Sunday would be some present for me.
“Beating Rangers on St Patrick’s Day, I couldn’t think of anything better! It would be brilliant, I’d be straight on it afterwards!
“My dad Dave is coming over for the game. Everyone else is staying at home for St Paddy’s Day, and I don’t blame them to be fair.”
However, Costelloe knows just how tough it will be to realise his St Patrick’s dream.
He played against Rangers for St Johnstone, while Dundee have already lost twice to the Glasgow giants this season, conceding eight goals in the process.
He added: “One of Dundee’s objectives at the start of the season was to get results off the Old Firm.
“I think that’s been the one thing we’ve been missing a bit.
‘We’ve all got two arms and two legs’
“We’re definitely good enough to get something out of it. We’re a good team and we just need to stick together.
“One thing I’ve learned is to just not over-respect them. Everyone is the same, we’ve all got two arms and two legs.
“We really need to get after them early on and show we’re not just another game for them to win. We’re going to take the game to them.”
Dundee are determined to finish the season on a high by securing a top-six finish.
Costelloe understands just how big an achievement that would be for a team that came up from the Championship last year.
However, he confessed that the whole “top six” concept had to be explained to him when he first arrived in Scotland.
He said: “I hadn’t a clue what was going on with the top six when I came up here!
“It’s a weird way how they work it up here in the league.
“I totally realise what it means to get top six now and so we just need to keep pushing, keep our heads down and stay in there.
“It’s a very progressive club here and for us to continue on that path, we need to finish in the top six to keep developing.
“It would be huge for the club, especially with the big funds and resources that come with it. That would help Dundee really kick on.”
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