Striker Osman Sow says the only way to get over Dundee’s Dunfermline disappointment is to pick up all three points at Palmerston this weekend – and then make it six out of six against Alloa.
For the majority of last weekend’s contest against the Pars, James McPake’s men looked certain to pick up their third Championship victory of the season with a morale-boosting defeat of Stevie Crawford’s early-season pacesetters.
Cruising at 3-0 to the good, the Dark Blues’ stranglehold on the contest began to slip when Paul Watson headed in after 78 minutes.
From there the dominance crumbled with the soft giveaway of a penalty kick allowing Declan McManus to make it 3-2 before the same man struck in stoppage time to deny Dundee a massive victory.
The draw left Dundee in seventh spot in the Championship table, five points still behind Dunfermline and eight off leaders Hearts.
Sow knows there’s only one thing that will get the Dark Blues moving towards their end-of-season goal and that is points.
Coming up is a double-header against two of the division’s bottom three with a trip to bottom side Queen of the South on Boxing Day followed by struggling Alloa arriving at Dens Park four days later.
“These two are must-win for us now – both games,” said Sow, who overcame an injury scare at the start of the week.
“Even though Queen of the South is a tough away game, we need to pick up six points.
“It’ll be tough with two games close together but we have a strong squad.
“We need to keep believing and get over Saturday’s disappointment quickly, roll the sleeves up and just do what it takes to get the points.
“We need to face up to the challenge in front of us.”
The biggest frustration for Sow and his team-mates was how much they bossed the contest against one of the league’s top sides for the majority of the game.
To go from a match-winning performance to one that saw the Dark Blues concede three goals in 12 minutes was tough to take.
Considering the boost a victory over Dunfermline at this stage of the season could have given them, Dundee are hurting to come away with only one point says Sow.
“It felt like a loss to be honest,” he added.
“At this stage of the season where we just need points and to only walk away with one against Dunfermline was so frustrating after being 3-0 up.
“I felt we deserved to win but somehow didn’t manage to see the game out. We need to forget this game and go again on Saturday at Queen of the South and get points, we just need points.
“I felt we were at it and everybody showed we really wanted it. We just didn’t manage to continue that over the 90 minutes and we got hurt.”
It was a bittersweet afternoon for the Swedish striker as he grabbed his first goal in dark blue after signing for the club on a pay-as-you-play deal in October.
It was Sow’s first goal since May 2019 when he struck his only goal for Dundee United in a play-off victory over Inverness.
And it capped the former Hearts man’s best showing since arriving at Dens Park, though the disappointment over the result overshadowed opening his account for his new club.
“My fitness and my rhythm is picking up the longer I’m staying on the pitch,” he added.
“It is a step forward to get the goal but we didn’t win and, at the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is getting points.
“I ruptured my Achilles in February. I have been back for a couple of months but I had a few niggles.
“Now I just feel like I’m starting to get some rhythm in my play and I just want to keep playing.
“Of course I want to score, it’s always nice, but we need points.
“We need to climb up the table because we should not be in the position we are in.
“So, whether I score or don’t score, we just need three points now.”