Joe Shaughnessy is ready to spearhead Dundee’s survival bid.
The Dens Park skipper hasn’t started a match since April after rupturing his cruciate ligament last season.
That could change on Saturday against his old side St Johnstone with Dundee’s porous defence needing major help.
Lose to Saints and the Dee could be propping up the Premiership table on Saturday night after defeat at Motherwell made it five league games lost on the bounce.
“We are on a bad run at the moment but it is only us who can really turn it around,” the club captain said.
“We have a chance to put that right on Saturday.
“There’s enough in there definitely to do that.
“But in football, sometimes when you are on a bad run, you just need something to go for you to get out of it and we just have to pull together and do that.
“We’ve not got a choice.
“There’s no one in the dressing room who is just going to lay down and accept we are getting dragged down.
“You have to stand up and be counted and be prepared to fight your way out of it.
“Heads haven’t gone down. At Motherwell, until we got the equaliser, we were playing really well.
“You could see we have good players – we just need that little bit of something to go for us.
“Sometimes you need that to turn it around.
“Everyone is aware of the situation.
“You have to show a reaction otherwise what’s the point?
“When you lose it’s about how you react and you go again.”
‘Ready’
Shaughnessy came off the bench for the final half-hour against the Steelmen and made a real impact in the backline.
It was his first Premiership appearance of the season, having played the final 10 minutes in a Scottish Cup win over Airdrie earlier in the month.
After a number of reserve game runouts, Shaughnessy says he’s ready to go from the start.
“It was good to be back there and be involved and hopefully now I will be able to help a bit more by being out on the pitch and get out of this mess,” he added.
“I’m ready to go.”
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