Dundee skipper Kevin Thomson has praised the way his side’s top-tier new boys have adjusted to life in the Premiership under the often harsh glare of the media spotlight.
Dark Blues boss Paul Hartley oversaw a huge turnaround in the playing staff during the summer with Thomson just one of a whole host of players coming in to Dens.
The former Scotland, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Hibs midfielder has barrowloads of experience but for others joining Dundee that was not the case and the 30-year-old believes even after his side made a good start to the season, there was always the chance results would be up and down.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s game against Kilmarnock, he said: “Performances bring expectations and that in turn brings pressure.
“I know only too well that you can see yourself in the paper one week and you are the best thing since sliced bread the next you can be not so good.
“It is up to players to deal with that and a lot of the boys are in the spotlight for the first time having come up from a lower league.
“They now find themselves on the telly on a Sunday night when Sportscene is on.
“They are in the papers on a Monday morning and it is a big thing.
“But we have a great manager who keeps everybody’s feet on the ground and fingers crossed we are through that recent wee dip and can now kick on again.”
Three players in particular have taken the step up in their stride, Greg Stewart, Paul McGinn and Scott Bain, who were plying their trade for Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton and Alloa respectively last season.
Thomson said: “I would love to single Greg out and heap loads of praise on him but Paul and Scott have also been terrific.
“The boys the manager have brought in from the lower leagues have not so much punched above their weight, as that would be disrespectful but they have all done really well.
“The gaffer certainly has an eye for them.
“Greg has been a breath of fresh air. He is a terrific boy as they all are.
“It’s important when you come up from the lower leagues that you keep your feet on the ground rather than getting carried away with the hype and they have all done that.”
Thomson and the rest of the Dundee players are still disappointed over the “one that got away” at the weekend when it looked like they would take all three points against league leaders Aberdeen at Pittodrie only to be pegged back in the game’s closing stages.
He said: “It was disappointing as we were 3-1 up with just a few minutes to go.
“I thought we had weathered the storm and the game was petering out almost but the penalty gave them a lift.
“The crowd were up and unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot by not dealing with their onslaught in the last five minutes or so.
“We probably would have taken a point before the game I think even the gaffer would say that.
“We went up there to try to win but the way they have been playing, we would have settled for a draw.
“But to be 3-1 up so late on, we certainly feel as though we should have got three.
“However, it is a good thing that we were disappointed in the dressing-room.”
At the start of the season, a lot of pundits reckoned that despite Dundee being a newly-promoted club, with the squad Hartley had assembled, the top six was a realistic target.
They are currently six points behind sixth placed St Johnstone, who also have a game in hand, but Thomson insists the Dark Blues still have a chance of catching Saints.
He said: “We have played St Johnstone twice and beat them at McDiarmid Park.
“We should also have beaten them at Dens so if that’s the team we are going to be competing with for sixth position then we certainly have nothing to fear.
“Unfortunately they have opened a wee gap on us at the moment and it is up to us to claw that back.”
To do that, Thomson acknowledged Dundee’s home form has to improve with the Dark Blues only having won two league games at Dens so far this season.
He added: “Our home form has been disappointing when you think back to games like the Ross County one when they were down to 10 men and the Partick one when they were down to 10.
“There’s four points straight away just off the tip of my tongue.
“We could have been sitting on 30 points and really challenging strongly for top six.
“We need to get that burden off our shoulders and start picking up as many points at home as we are doing away.”