Leigh Griffiths has secured his dream move to England, and former Dundee team-mate Gary Irvine hasn’t given up hope of one day following him.
In the summer of 2009, after St Johnstone had secured promotion to the SPL, the Dens Park full-back was out of contract and had suitors from the English Championship.
He had been one of Saints’ star performers in their first division title campaign and Derek McInnes managed to persuade him to extend his stay in Perth.
The former Celtic man still harbours ambitions, however, of trying his luck south of the border.
Irvine said, “I’m delighted for Leigh. He deserves his move after scoring so many goals for us.
“I think Wolves are saying he’s one for the future and I’m sure he’s got a good career ahead of him.”
He added, “England’s the place to be. I had the option of going there a couple of seasons ago but I also had the option of the SPL in front of me as well. At the time I wanted to test myself there.
“Scottish boys have really been making an impact there over the last couple of years. Their leagues get big coverage on Sky and it would definitely be a goal to play there one day.
“Hopefully if I keep my performances up the chance will come again.”Pitch’s part to playMeanwhile, Irvine is looking to wipe out the memory of a painful September afternoon in Fife when Dundee face Cowdenbeath on Saturday.
He said, “Losing the last time we went there was a hard one to take.
“The administration talk was starting to build up. Once that gets mentioned you start to worry about your job.
“There was also the fact that the pitch was rough and bumpy and their players were in our faces. It wasn’t as if we were in good form at the time either.
“Everything seemed to get on top of us that day. It wasn’t a great experience.”
He added, “Looking ahead to this match I’m sure the pitch will probably have a part to play again. It’s a bit different to all the rest we play on in the first division.
“There will be a few more bobbles, but it’s up to us to adapt to it.
“We’re coming off another win and a good week’s training so we want to keep our run going.”‘Tough game’The 2-1 defeat to Jimmy Nicholl’s part-timers was the last time Dundee lost a league game.
Barry Smith wasn’t the Dark Blues manager on that occasion, but he will be using it as pre-match motivation this time round.
He said, “The players should be driven by not wanting to come back as disappointed as they were then. We’re expecting it to be another tough game.”
Meanwhile, Montrose have landed 19-year-old Dundee defender Kyle Benedictus on loan for a month much to the delight of the Gable Endies player-manager Steven Tweed.
Injuries to Gordon Pope and Jonathan Crawford, as well as to Tweed himself, had given the Links Park side a central defensive headache ahead of this weekend’s visit of Clyde.
Tweed said, “I am really pleased to bring a young talent like Kyle Benedictus to us, even if it just for a short while.
“It is a win-win situation as we need cover and he needs games to keep on developing.”