Dundee boss Paul Hartley has paid tribute to the job John “Yogi” Hughes has done since taking over as manager of Inverness.
The Highland side were tipped by many pundits to be struggling down at the bottom of the Premiership this season.
Instead, they are flying high, sitting second top of the table just three points behind leaders Celtic.
They are unbeaten in their last four games, having won again on Tuesday night, thumping St Mirren 4-0.
Despite that, Hartley insists his group of players, who are still in buoyant frame of mind after dumping the Dons out of the Scottish Cup last weekend, fear no-one and are ready to take on the Highland outfit at Dens tomorrow.
He said: “We’re up against a really good Inverness team.
“I watched them the other night and they were excellent.
“They have some really good players there and Yogi has them playing with real style.
“I don’t think they get enough credit, they are really underestimated.
“But that’s wrong because they are really good to watch and have been getting very good results.
“They are a good passing team. John has changed their style since he came in.
“Last season he did a bit of that but this season they’re playing the way he wanted them to and they have been very good.
“They’ll come here and pass the ball so it should be a really open game.
“Against them up in Inverness (in August) we created good chances and not many teams have left there with a point this season.
“We’ve done well so far and don’t fear anyone.”
One of the reasons for the lack of fear on Dundee’s part is the fact that they possess a striker on a remarkable scoring run at the moment.
David Clarkson will equal Johnny Bell’s club record of netting in nine consecutive games set away back in 1920 if he scores against Inverness.
Hartley, who previously played with Clarkson at Bristol City, insists the front man will not be fazed by the fact he is on the verge of creating his own piece of history.
He said: “I’m sure Inverness will have seen enough of David to know what he’s capable of.
“He’s on a good run of scoring form just now he keeps coming up with crucial winners for us.
“I played with him so knew what he’s like, he’s a good type and the kind of person you want to have around the club.
“He’s on the verge of the record but I don’t think he’s the type of boy to worry about it.
“His run is incredible and if he breaks it, we’ll all be delighted for him.
“He’s not said too much about it, he’s focused on the football and doing his best for the team.
“He might look back in years to come and think about it, but right now he’s just taking each game at a time.”
Hartley confirmed that he is still working away on trying to put together an extended deal for Clarkson, whose contract is up at the end of the season although he also cautioned that it might be difficult for him to further strengthen his squad in the January transfer window.
He added: “We’ve been speaking to the board for the last few weeks. We know David’s happy here but we want to get him tied up for a longer time.
“If the right players become available then we’ll look at it, but January is a hard window because teams don’t like to let their good players leave.” Meanwhile, Hartley took time to make special mention of the team he managed before taking over at Dens.
Alloa produced one of the results of the season on Wednesday night when they dumped Rangers out of the Petrofac Training Cup against all the odds.
Hartley said: “It’s fairytale stuff for Alloa and I’m delighted for them.
“When a team goes 2-0 down against Rangers, you think it’s game over but they battled back into it and got the win.
“It’s amazing, really. I’m pleased for everyone there and am looking forward to going to the final now.”