Matt Lockwood has admitted the growing prospect of Rangers going bust, and a possible place being freed up in the SPL for a second First Division club, has given greater meaning to the Dark Blues’ clash with Ayr United on Saturday.
The Dens Park side are four points ahead of third-placed Falkirk, and their weekend match at Somerset Park could ultimately turn into a promotion clincher because a win would seal the runners-up spot behind newly crowned champions Ross County.
SPL insiders have confirmed that should crisis club Rangers go into liquidation once the season has ended on May 13, and they are subsequently demoted from the top flight, it would be the second top First Division team which would benefit from their demise rather than there being a reprieve for whoever is relegated.
Ideally Dundee would have secured promotion by winning their own division but Lockwood insisted they’d be mad not to take advantage of Rangers’ misfortune following a seven-year exile from the SPL.
He said: ”We really don’t need any added incentive now going into the Ayr game. It’s a very interesting situation and, of course, nobody wants to see the worst-case scenario happening to Rangers because they’re a huge club who mean so much to so many people.
”I have sympathy for the players and the fans because we went through administration here at Dundee not that long ago and it’s never a nice time.
”But if that were to happen and they were to go into liquidation after the season has ended, then we would obviously be in line to step up.
”It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and football is no different when it comes to the business side of things.
”At the end of the day, we were punished severely for going into administration as well when we were hit with a 25-points deduction.
”We’ll still have to wait and see what happens with Rangers but if there’s an extra place up for grabs in the SPL then that’s the rules and you have to follow them.”
Lockwood added: ”Our aim at the start of the season was to win the title to get automatic promotion, although it wasn’t to be in the end. But if finishing second is enough to get us up to where we want to be then we’d be willing recipients.”
Dundee’s form has dipped of late last weekend they lost 3-0 at home to Partick Thistle but the potential carrot dangling in front of them should be inspiration enough to help them regain their form in Ayrshire.
He added: ”This should get everyone going again. Obviously we’ve been very disappointed with our last two defeats and the manager was quite right to have a go after the Thistle game. The last thing we want is for the season just to peter out but we desperately want second place for obvious reasons.
”There should be a spring in our step now knowing what might happen so we have to ensure we don’t let the opportunity slip.
”Ayr are never easy opponents and they gave us a very hard game at Dens Park recently even though we ran out 4-1 winners in the end. We have a definite point to prove to ourselves and the fans after two such performances so the game down at Somerset Park can’t come quickly enough.”