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Dundee manager predicts top-six race will be close

Paul Hartley.
Paul Hartley.

Dundee manager Paul Hartley believes the race to finish in the top six will go right to the wire.

The Dark Blues have eight games to play before the Premiership splits in two.

They sit in seventh spot and are just a point behind St Johnstone, albeit the Perth men have played one game fewer.

Fifth-placed Hamilton Accies could yet get dragged into the fight but they are currently seven clear of Saints and eight better off than the Dens men.

It definitely looks like it is game on between the Tayside duo and Hartley, whose side have gone six game unbeaten in the league, is predicting a close contest.

“I can see the top-six thing going down to the last game or two,” he said.

“I think it’s a good thing for the game.

“At the top end of the table you have Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Inverness.

“At the bottom end it is tough also, with Motherwell, St Mirren and Ross County fighting down there.

“So there are four teams near the top, there’s a middle group that includes us and then the group at the bottom of the table.

“So it is definitely like three leagues within a league.”

Having just come up from the Championship in the summer and then completely turned the playing staff around, Hartley feels it would be some feat were Dundee to win the top-six tussle.

He said: “I think it would be a really good achievement.

“We weren’t quite sure how things would pan out at the start of the season, considering the number of players we have brought in.

“There has been a massive turnaround and it won’t have to be the same again this summer.

“We have had to change things for the better of the club.

“So if we could get into the top six it would be great.

“The aim at the start of the season was to stay in the league but, as the campaign goes on, your ambitions change a little bit.

“Now we want a big push for the next eight games to try to get our way into the top six.”

Next up for Dundee is the visit of Partick Thistle to Dens Park tomorrow and once again Hartley is dealing with selection concerns.

He said: “Gary Harkins trained today but he needs a good week’s training first before he can be involved again.

“We need to wait on Kevin Thomson, while Luka Tankulic took a knock against Celtic last weekend and Greg Stewart is suspended.

“We have had a lot of injuries and knocks, with people coming back and then going back out injured.

“The injuries have mostly been happening during games so you can’t do anything about that.

“It is a physical game but we seem to have had a lot in the past month.

“I think there are other teams in the same position as us, though.

“You get spells like that and that’s why you need a big squad.

“If three or four drop out we need a bit of cover.

“We have got the two boys coming in after being cup-tied for the Celtic match, Alex Harris and Paul Heffernan, which will help.

“Harris has done well since he came here and Heffernan has proven that he can score goals.

“He’s not played a lot of football over the last wee while but he’s been working really hard in training and has looked sharp.”