New Dundee signing Osman Sow isn’t interested in proving a point to anyone but himself as he looks to revive his career at Dens Park.
The 30-year-old striker has struggled for form and fitness since returning to the UK from Chinese club Henan Jianye in 2017.
Since that time he has scored just four goals in 54 matches – three for MK Dons and a single strike for Dundee United.
His time at Tannadice ended with a serious Achilles tendon injury suffered in February before his contract ran out in the summer.
After completing his rehab with the Tangerines, Sow was delighted to be given the chance to get back to scoring ways across the road at Dundee.
In doing so, he’s joined a small list of players to have moved from United to the Dark Blues, the last being Craig Curran in January 2019 with Jim McInally in 1997 the previous to make the switch.
The former Hearts man said ahead of a potential debut at Brora Rangers in the Betfred Cup today: “You always have a point to prove in football but the biggest one is for yourself.
“I want to prove a point to myself, I know what I can do and I just need to play football and do it now.
“Not many people go from Dundee United to Dundee, but plenty of players have played for both clubs.
“Someone has to go straight from one to the other though.
“I have no hard feelings, I have to thank the United staff because they let me come in to finish my rehab and were very supportive.
“The opportunity came to join Dundee and it felt right so I was keen to take it.
“It’s great to get sorted so I can start looking forward to playing football again.
“I have enjoyed it since I came in, when the manager phoned me to ask if I wanted to come in and train I thought it was an exciting opportunity.
“Over the summer I was just rehabbing, I was out running pretty much every day around Monifieth and Broughty Ferry, down by the water.
“In some ways it was maybe good for me the lockdown happened because it gave me some calm to focus on getting fit.
“It has been a weird time but you have to get on with it and make the best of it.
“Hopefully, it will turn out to be a good thing for me because as soon as the lockdown was finished I was ready to go.
“I feel fit, I have been feeling good since I came in here and I just can’t wait to get started playing now.
“I just want to get a run of games now.
“Hopefully, we can get a good performance and result against Brora today.”
This afternoon’s Betfred Cup tie in the Highlands is the last before the Championship campaign gets under way.
And the Dark Blues kick off their promotion bid with a mouth-watering clash at a Hearts side that have been installed as big favourites to lift the second-tier title.
Back in charge at Tynecastle is Robbie Neilson, the man who signed Sow three times, first for the Jambos, then at MK Dons and latterly at United.
“I always put pressure on myself, I believe we can win it. If I didn’t believe we could do it I wouldn’t have come here – so let’s see what happens next week.
In his time working under Neilson at Hearts, Sow scored 11 times in 22 Championship games as they won the title in 2014/15.
Past loyalties, however, don’t interest the man who left Edinburgh in a million-pound deal for China.
He’s a Dundee player now and says the quality in the Dark Blues squad is good enough to cause an upset, not just at Tynecastle next Friday, but by winning the Championship come May.
He added: “We want to win the title this season, it’s going to be a short season and there are not too many games.
“So you are going to have to start sharply and get on with it from the very beginning if you want to achieve what we’re aiming to do.
“Obviously Hearts are in the same league, they are a big club who expect to be promoted and we expect to be promoted ourselves too.
“I am a Dundee player now so I will be doing everything I can to make it happen.
“I enjoyed being at Hearts and helping them up the last time, but it’s different now – it’s about us.
“I always put pressure on myself, I believe we can win it.
“If I didn’t believe we could do it I wouldn’t have come here – so let’s see what happens next week.
“It’s great we have Hearts on the first game of the season, we are looking forward to it.
“We have the quality in the squad here, look at the centre of midfield – we have players who have played at a very high level.
“To win a league you need experience, a season is full of ups and downs so you need leaders and people who have been there before.
“All over the park we have quality and in training the boys have looked really good.
“It is a great opportunity for me this season, I want to help Dundee get back to the Premiership.”
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