Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin is adamant that Sunday’s Dundee derby is the biggest game of the season.
The all-Dundee clash is always a red hot ticket and, with the stakes sky high for both clubs, this weekend’s meeting of the Tangerines and the Dark Blues looks like being particularly engrossing.
Tony Docherty’s Dundee will make the short walk from Dens Park to Tannadice knowing they need points to drag themselves out of relegation danger.
Meanwhile, their hosts want wins to aid in their pursuit of European football.
For Goodwin, that all makes for a huge occasion.
“The game on Sunday is definitely the biggest game of the season,” he said.
“There’s a lot riding on it for both teams because we’re challenging for that top six and Dundee find themselves at the other end of the table, battling to get the points to pull away from that relegation zone.
“So yes, I think there’s a lot at stake for everybody.
“The games so far have been good ones up to now. We’re expecting another really high-intensity, usual derby game.
“There should be a decent atmosphere, it’s a full house and hopefully, we can get back to winning ways.”
Dundee will enter Sunday’s derby on a dispiriting run of form.
With no wins from their last eight Premiership games, they have sunk to 11th place, just three points clear of bottom side St Johnstone.
However, Goodwin is experienced enough not to place too much stock on form when derby day rolls around.
“They’ve been on a difficult run,” said the United boss.
“Tony [Docherty, Dundee manager] will be pulling his hair out at the moment because of the position that they find themselves in.
“We know that they’re a good team and they’ve got some really good players.
“They’ve had some injury issues of their own to contend with, similar to ourselves, but they are a good side.
“I think form, as everybody says, goes out the window in these types of games.
“It’s very much about on the day, who performs the best and they’ve got dangerous players in their team in the forward areas, along with good experience along their back line.
“We will have to be at it on Sunday, that’s for sure.
“So, I think it’ll be a decent game from a neutral perspective and hopefully we do enough to get all three points.”
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