Kyle Letheren spent the week picking Gareth Bale shots out of the back of his net, as the world’s most expensive footballer warmed up for Andorra.
On his first international trip with Wales the Dundee keeper was flinging himself about his training ground penalty box in an attempt mostly in vain to get near to the Real Madrid star’s trademark free-kicks.
From being the busiest man in the Pyrenees, Letheren became a by-stander in Perth.
Dundee were as comfortable as a team can get in a game with only one goal in it, and the former Kilmarnock man was given an armchair ride for the day.
“I expected a tougher afternoon,” he admitted.
“But I was a spectator for a lot of it, to be honest.”
Reflecting on his working over by the 100 million euro man, Letheren said: “I’m claiming an assist for Bale’s goal (to win the match in Andorra) because he was banging them past me all week in training.
“I managed to save one or two, which got my confidence up. Then he started putting them past me left, right and centre, which brought me back to reality.
“He stands out from the crowd obviously. He’s a world class player and you can tell why he’s been sold for all that money.
“He’s got what they call the x factor. It’s what I’ve played football from a boy for. It was a great experience one I’m grateful for and one I want to take a lot from.
“I was expecting them to maybe be a bit arrogant but they were just like any other person. They came up to speak to me. It was nice of them to make me feel welcome.
“Hopefully if my club form stays the same I’ll get picked for the next squad.”
If Gareth Bale is Wales’ x-factor man, then Gary Harkins is Dundee’s.
But Letheren is reluctant to reveal if the Dens Park cult hero who was a constant pest for Saints gives him the same treatment in training.
“I’m going to say ‘no’ because he’ll give me grief if I say ‘yes’,” he joked.
“He’s got lots of ability and you could see it again today. He’s a very important part of our team. He creates a lot for us.”
From a league-clinching last-minute save to an international call-up and in between times, establishing himself as a top flight goalkeeper Letheren has had a few months to savour.
A derby win or even two in the back-to-back clashes with Dundee United are next on the agenda.
“It just keeps getting better and better for me over the last two years,” he pointed out.
“I’m just hoping that my luck doesn’t change before Sunday. That win has topped off a surreal week for me. I wanted to come back down to earth but I’m still up on cloud nine. Long may it continue.
“Of course this result will give us confidence going into the two derbies. We’ve picked up two away wins on the road, and we’re unbeaten. Hopefully the derby will be another good result for us.
“We believe we can beat any team in the league. We were unlucky not to win against Celtic. If we play the way we can like we did today when we were in full control of the game then we can win the derby as well.
“We’re going to try and stay unbeaten as long as we can. Every point is a good one in this league.
“Hopefully we can take our away wins into our home games, and we’ll be flying. If we keep getting results like this it will be a long and successful season.”
If undefeated Dundee have been a model of consistency in the early part of the season, it has either been feast or famine for Saints.
Skipper Dave Mackay acknowledged: “It was a poor game for us. We deserved to lose.
“They didn’t have many chances but they were better all over the park than us. They were quicker, stronger and used the ball better.
“We couldn’t string three passes together. Then when we did get into good areas the final ball wasn’t good enough myself included.
“If there were awards handed out for inconsistency we’d be right up there. We’ve had three good wins (and a good performance against Celtic) but Hamilton and today weren’t good enough.
“You can’t get away with that in this league. Or we certainly can’t. We were nowhere near our best and got what we deserved.”
Saints’ cause wasn’t helped by losing out on the talents of Steven MacLean and Tam Scobbie, who could both be sidelined long-term.
The pair have been top performers so far, and there was no hiding the fact that their absence was significant on Saturday.
Scott Brown may also have to sit some games out, as he was taken off with an ankle injury on Saturday.
Mackay said: “It’s not the best time for us. We never seem to have boys out for a couple of weeks. It’s always long-term ones.
“Tom Scobbie’s especially was really bad luck. It was just a block tackle (in training) with Lee Croft nothing in it and he’s ended up rupturing his knee. Not even a wee tear. It wasn’t as if either of them were going in hard.
“It’s a real shame for him because he’s waited so long to get back. He was out for three or four months last season as well.
“He’s got his chance in the team and has been absolutely brilliant. Hopefully he can come back and start playing like he was before. Macca’s a massive player for us. Possibly our most important, with the way we play. The quicker he’s back the better and hopefully it’s not that bad an injury.
“Brian Graham was working off scraps and did well. The balls into him weren’t good enough. He’s shown he’ll do a job for us but it would have been even better beside Steven MacLean. That won’t be the case for at least a month.”
As Mackay stated, long-term injuries are nothing new over the last few seasons. Saints have coped without important players in the past (including MacLean and Scobbie) and the captain is confident they will do so again.
“It was looking good on the injury front over the last week but unfortunately it isn’t now,” he said.
“With Murray (Davidson) on the bench we were getting everyone back.
“He was the last. But that’s football,. and I’m sure we’ll get through it.”
The Dundee winning goal was scored on 26 minutes when the Perth men failed to clear a Philip Roberts header convincingly. The ball came back into their box and Thomas Konrad headed home.
Saints had been given their warning six minutes earlier when Frazer Wright gifted Simon Ferry a chance he couldn’t take.
They started to look more like their usual selves as the first half drew to a close but the expected second half push for an equaliser didn’t materialise and it was Mannus who had to save well from Harkins and Paul McGowan to keep the score at 1-0.
Saints boss Tommy Wright said: “I don’t think we can complain about the result.
“I’m disappointed with how we played, I’m disappointed that it took the goal to give us a kick up the backside and get into the game, I’m disappointed with the manner of the goal, and I’m disappointed that we didn’t give Brian good supply with our final ball.
“We moved to 4-4-2 to change things but we didn’t have the quality.”
Paul Hartley said: “I thought it was a comfortable 1-0. The players were excellent and it was a great team performance. Things can turn quickly in football. I think we’ve got to enjoy the moment. There’s a great spirit in the dressing room.”