Dundee United striker Mario Bilate is desperate for a win over city rivals Dundee after experiencing a Dutch derby drought.
The former Sparta Rotterdam striker will be the man the Tangerines will look to to lead their line on Sunday in the absence of the suspended Nadir Ciftci.
When he joins his teammates in the walk up the road to Dens from Tannadice, Bilate will be hoping for something he has never had a derby victory.
He lined up for his old club against Rotterdam neighbours Excelsior four times without tasting success so he is desperate for a change of derby luck this weekend.
“I played for Sparta against Excelsior, which is another team from Rotterdam, but sadly we never beat them,” said Bilate.
The big frontman explained that in 2010 Excelsior won a promotion/relegation play-off on away goals at Sparta’s ground to go up themselves and relegate their rivals.
He could also have mentioned that the last time Sparta beat Excelsior was back on January 21, 2007, and they have met eight times since.
Bilate continued: “There is some hatred between the sides but I would say it’s in a sporting way and there isn’t any trouble between the fans. They don’t fight each other.
“It’s not like Feyenoord v Ajax or Celtic v Rangers but there has been rivalry because Sparta got relegated by Excelsior in a derby match.
“They were promoted while Sparta went down but they eventually got relegated as well and I ended up playing against them four times for Sparta.
“Historically, Sparta is a much bigger club than Excelsior but we could never win the derby.
“That’s a big deal and the rivalry was intense but I have heard that the rivalry between United and Dundee is even more intense.
“The crowd for the derby in Holland was maybe 8,000 so there will be more fans there on Sunday.
“You tell me that Dundee haven’t beaten us for 10 years but I don’t think that guarantees anything as far as Sunday’s result goes.
“Records are there to be broken but if we just stick to our own game then I think the odds of us winning are bigger than the odds on Dundee ending that run.
“It means a lot to the people in Dundee and it’s up to us to do a good job and win on Sunday.
“I went to one of the lounges after the Hamilton match on Saturday and the first thing someone said to me was: ‘Forget this game, focus on Sunday and make sure we beat Dundee FC’.”
There is one uniquely Dundonian custom that Bilate is looking forward to on Sunday and that is the march up the street united as a team, management and support.
“That is another thing that’s a good example of how great the rivalry is perhaps,” he said.
“Maybe the rivalry is so big that you don’t even want to get changed in that stadium but instead you get ready in your own locker room! Then you want to walk up, beat them and walk back again.”
Fans will be looking to Bilate to get on the scoresheet and help ease the pain of Ciftci’s suspension but the player dismissed a suggestion that he would be stepping into the Turk’s shoes.
“I think that whoever replaces Nadir can do a good job so it’s not like I feel any pressure to do this or that,” he said.
“I am not here to fill Nadir’s boots, I am here to pave my own way in the team. I don’t think I need Nadir to be injured or suspended to be able to do that.
“We can play together as well so it’s not as if I need Nadir to be out to get in.”
Bilate welcomed the prospect of having both Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Dow availbale to supply passes to him on Sunday, saying: “That will be a good boost for us because both players have real qualities that we can use to win the match.
“It will be good if even one of them are back but if we can get both then that’s great.”