Very few of the thousands of Dundee fans flocking to Dens tonight will be in any way concerned about the plight United find themselves in.
However, Dark Blues defender Darren O’Dea does have sympathy for the Tangerines having witnessed first-hand the pain of relegation when he had a brief spell at Blackpool.
The bitter atmosphere at the English club culminated in their final game of last season against Huddersfield being abandoned after fans invaded the pitch with bizarre scenes including one supporter on a mobility scooter and others forming a conga line.
The farce also had a serious side with O’Dea seeing club employees losing their jobs so while the Dundee support will be revelling in witnessing their city rivals facing a desperate struggle to avoid the drop, O’Dea insists the only thing the players will be celebrating is if they take another three points to further their bid to finish the best of the rest in seventh place.
The big Irishman said: “I do have relegation on my CV with Blackpool but I have written that off as they were already down when I signed for them.
“It is not a nice thing and it is not something that players would want for anyone.
“Obviously someone has to go down but it is not something we will be celebrating.
“We will hopefully be celebrating getting three points.
“When I signed for Blackpool they were as good as relegated but the last game of the season was still abandoned so it had a big impact on the fans and I felt sorry for them.
“There was unrest to do with the owners and a conga was going on in the middle of the pitch! It was a strange game and one of the more eventful matches for Blackpool.
“I was there as a stop-gap. I’d been injured before I went there just to get fit. It was horrible to see. It’s not something to be laughed at. But I understand the fans and as long as it’s banter it’s fine.
“I’ve been around Dundee a little bit now and it is largely banter. I think the fans have a healthy enough relationship within football but as players we’ll just concentrate on ourselves and hopefully win.”
O’Dea insists that while most of the focus will be on United tonight, the home players are determined just to concentrate on themselves and what they are trying to achieve as the season edges to a conclusion.
He added: “A large percentage of the fans would probably say they won’t miss Dundee United and would prefer to see them go down and that’s their prerogative.
“But for us players it’s just about playing for Dundee and doing well. We’ve had a decent season – it could have been a lot better – and we want to finish as high up as possible.
“I think all the attention is on Dundee United’s situation and there are people at the club there who will probably lose their jobs. So it is not something to celebrate.
“Obviously, fans are different but as players we are just concentrating on ourselves and we want to win.
“We were really disappointed we didn’t finish in the top six but there is nothing we can do about that now.
“Their situation is something they have to worry about, not us and we are just determined to win the game.
“We have another two matches at home after this and we should have a good chance of finishing in seventh which is where we feel we should be finishing.”
