Dundee have five matches to secure European football at Dens Park for the first time in over 20 years.
The trip to Perugia in 2003 remains the last time the Dark Blues jetted off to the Continent for a competitive match.
Overhaul St Mirren’s two-point lead in the Premiership table and that long, long wait will be over for Dees.
Passports will be needed for 2024/25 should Tony Docherty’s side finish fifth.
Can they do it? Courier Sport assesses the five fixtures to come.
Three homes
Dundee were due three home fixtures and duly got a trio of Dens ties.
The first gets the toughest match out of the way quickly – Celtic are the only side Dundee haven’t taken any points off in the Premiership this season.
Beyond that, if the Dark Blues were to choose two teams to face at home they would be the sides directly above them.
Hey presto – St Mirren and Kilmarnock will be at Dens Park.
Three of Dundee’s last four league wins were at home which bodes well on that front while their biggest victory of the season came against the Buddies at Dens.
Over the entire campaign, however, the Dark Blues have the worst home record of any other top-six side.
Their away record, though, stacks up better. Despite picking up more points home than away, they do boast the fourth best record on the road.
The two sides with worse away records this term? Kilmarnock and St Mirren.
A positive start for the Dee.
Timing
In these crunch moments, ‘when’ games take place can be just as important as ‘where’.
And Dundee can’t complain too much about the order the games have fallen.
Get Celtic out of the way early. Home advantage helps in that one, too.
Then the St Mirren match will set the tone for the final three.
The winner of that one will be big favourite to finish fifth and take that last European slot.
While the Dee face Celtic, the Buddies are at home to Rangers. They’ve lost all three to the Gers this term.
There’s a fair chance St Mirren will come into the Dens showdown on the back of five games without victory.
Further down the line, timing could also help the Dee out.
Hearts will likely be secure in third by the time they host Dundee while Kilmarnock will probably have fourth tied up come the final match of the season.
Dundee’s final away match of the season is at Ibrox. Not a happy hunting ground by any means.
However, the game comes three days after Rangers face a title showdown at Celtic Park.
Whichever way that goes, it will have a massive effect on the mood at Ibrox when Dundee rock up.
St Mirren fixtures
The Buddies also got the three home games they were due. And their home record is decent – Stephen Robinson’s men have picked up 11 points more in Paisley than on the road.
The trip to Dens obviously looms large but St Mirren will fancy getting points from the two home matches to follow.
As in matches against Dundee, Hearts and Killie could well have third and fourth tied up already. A final match at Celtic could be a title win/coronation.
Or it could be a dead rubber with the Hoops looking ahead to the Scottish Cup Final.
The Buddies have things to be happy about, too.
St Mirren fixtures: Rangers (h), Dundee (a), Kilmarnock (h), Hearts (h), Celtic (a).
Home game to finish
Whatever happens, a final match of the season being at home will give the Dee faithful the opportunity to celebrate a fine season at Dens Park.
It could be a remarkable day on May 18, though.
Despite improving on last term, Kilmarnock’s away record doesn’t match their home form.
And, like Hearts and possibly Rangers, Killie will likely be snug and secure in their final league position by then.
Dundee are also unbeaten in the league this season against Derek McInnes’ side.
Do expect late goals, though – all three meetings have finished 2-2 with equalisers scored in stoppage time.
Overall
Dundee will be happy with the line up of their final five fixtures.
And they go into these games in far better form than St Mirren.
The Dark Blues have lost just one in six – picking up nine points from 18 – while the Buddies have won only once in the same amount of games, winning five points.
The respective form of each team has made this a proper race for fifth with the Dee closing in on the Buddies.
The home match against St Mirren being crucial is an under-statement.
But don’t expect this race to do anything but go right to the wire – Kilmarnock at home on May 18 could be a very big day in Dundee’s recent history.
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