Dundee manager Tony Docherty has his sights set on tackling the Old Firm sooner rather than later.
There is no better time to achieve his first victory over one of the Glasgow giants than this Saturday when the Dark Blues face the major task of overcoming Rangers at Ibrox.
The duo face off in a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, knowing a Hampden semi-final is the prize on offer.
Docherty is striving for progress from his Dundee side after their impressive top-six finish last term.
That didn’t include any wins over Rangers or Celtic, however.
And the Dens boss wants to change that.
“It would be progress,” Docherty said.
“We have agreed, share objectives. That would be one.
“We never beat the Old Firm last season.
“We had good games against them. We got a 0-0 at Dens Park but that has to be an objective this season.
“Another would be to progress in the cup.
“So maybe two in one.
“This is a big high-profile game live versus Rangers on television.
“That is where I want this club to be and competing.”
How, though, do they go about breaking their Ibrox duck?
Dundee haven’t won in Govan since 2001 when Claudio Caniggia and Stephen Milne netted in a 2-0 win over Dick Advocaat’s Gers.
Under Philippe Clement, defeats for Rangers have been few and far between. But there have been losses to the likes of Ross County and Motherwell.
Courier Sport takes a look at how two bottom six sides shocked Rangers last term.
And what secret weapon is now in Dundee’s armoury heading to Ibrox this weekend.
Dundee 0-0 Rangers
This clash finally saw the seemingly endless pitch inspections at Dens Park come to an end.
Dundee’s pitch had been the big story after the first two attempts were called off.
Third time lucky saw the Dark Blues earn a very hard-fought 0-0 draw, a point that effectively ended the Gers title challenge.
The pitch did play its part in terms of tactics from the visitors – they played very direct and that suited Dundee.
Despite losing skipper Joe Shaughnessy to a long-term knee injury early on, the Dark Blues defence stood up to everything thrown at them by a desperate Rangers side.
Though the circumstances and venue will be completely different this time around, Dundee certainly need a defensive performance of this calibre to have any joy at Ibrox.
Docherty’s side have shown they can defend against Rangers. They also took the lead in both games at Ibrox last season before letting it slip.
Ross County 3-2 Rangers
Just days before that Dens clash, Clement’s side had been deservedly beaten at Ross County.
Despite taking the lead through a Jack Baldwin own goal, Rangers were distinctly second best in the Highlands.
And who was the key man for the Staggies? Why, it was Dundee’s stand-in skipper Simon Murray.
Murray scored County’s first goal that afternoon, beating Jack Butland at the second attempt, before seeing a further shot saved by the keeper and knocked in by team-mate George Harmon.
County attacked Rangers with pace and intent throughout, pouncing on errors and exploding on the counter.
This was no one-man attack, however. The latter two goals came directly from the Staggies committing players to the attack and ensuring they had bodies in the box.
Those two goals also came from exploiting the space left by James Tavernier going forward from right-back.
Murray, too, scored for County at Ibrox in February and will be key to any success Dundee have this weekend.
Rangers 1-2 Motherwell
This remains Clement’s only home defeat as Rangers boss in domestic matches.
That stat in itself tells you how big a task this is for Dundee.
So why not take a look at how the Steelmen achieved that feat?
They scored early as Theo Bair found the inside of the post on nine minutes after Jack Vale forced a mistake from John Souttar.
Then a rash slide tackle from Stephen O’Donnell brought down Fabio Silva in the area, giving Tavernier the chance to equalise from the spot.
But ’Well weren’t done and made the most of a set-piece, sending the ball back in for Dan Casey to beat Tavernier at the back post.
Goalkeeper Liam Kelly had to be at his best late on and Paul McGinn cleared off the line with manager Stuart Kettlewell praising his side after they “suffered really well” and had to employ “emergency defending” to get over the line.
How can Dundee do it?
The first thing Dundee need to do is defend better than they have been doing in recent games.
That’s without doubt.
The area they can get joy in going forward is on the counter attack down the left flank. Tavernier is a real attacking threat but can leave space to be exploited if Dundee can steal the ball and break.
And the Dark Blues have found that area of the pitch to be a strong one this season. Murray likes to drift there and so does Scott Tiffoney.
There are areas to give hope for the Dee at Ibrox.
But it will require a whole team effort with big performances all over the park to end a 23-year Ibrox hoodoo.
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