While Dundee United left back Barry Douglas’ hair loss may only be temporary, the defender hopes to make his place in the Tangerines’ starting line-up a permanent arrangement.
The 22-year-old unveiled his drastic new look in Sunday’s 3-0 derby success over Dundee, having shaved his head in a bid to raise more than £2,000 for his cancer-stricken uncle.
It didn’t have any adverse effect on his performance as he put in a near faultless shift at the weekend.
Now, with the team doing well and sitting pretty at the top of the table, Douglas firmly believes anything is possible for United this season.
Celtic midfielder Scott Brown was one of the high-profile figures in pre-season tipping United to be the Hoops’ main title contenders, although Douglas isn’t taking much notice of that.
”We don’t look into anything like that to be honest it’s probably a bit of reverse psychology,” he said. ”Obviously we’ve got belief in ourselves, or there would be no point coming in, so as long as we just keep taking each game as it comes and getting wins I don’t see why we shouldn’t be up there at the top end of the league.
”Europe is going to be our main aim again so as long as we keep going about our job and don’t let that slip, I think we’ll do well.”
Douglas cut a frustrated figure at times last season as Paul Dixon largely kept him out of the team, but the 22-year-old is relishing his chance to shine after Dixon’s move to Huddersfield.
”It was a long wait because I came in in my first season and played a few games, but obviously with Dicker’s form I never kicked a ball the whole of last year,” he said. ”So I’m excited and looking forward to my opportunity and hopefully I can grasp that.
”Dicker is a great player. He set the standard and people are going to compare but I’ve got belief in my own ability and I think I’ll do well as long as I get the opportunity.”