Dundee defender Liam Fontaine is a man who knows what it takes to win promotion.
He’s done it twice from the Scottish Championship and been part of promoted Bristol City and Yeovil Town sides down south.
Pretty or not, it’s all about getting three points on the board any way you can at this stage of the season.
After three straight league successes, every victory is “a show of strength” says the former Hibs and Ross County man.
And he’s looking to help the Dark Blues demonstrate their power once more when they take on Morton today at Dens Park.
Fontaine said: “It is a cliche in football to say it but it genuinely does go down to each and every game now.
“The full focus is on Morton.
“There would have been teams watching us on Tuesday (at Ayr) wishing we slipped up.
“Every time you go there and get the win, it is a show of the strength and the character that is in your team.
“The pressure was on us on Tuesday to get the three points but we worked hard and got the job done.”
‘You know what is on the line. You know the objective.’
Now in his 17th season as a senior footballer, Fontaine hopes to be enjoying a fourth promotion party this season at Dens Park.
Also a Scottish Cup winner with Hibs, the 35-year-old will be passing on all his experience to his Dark Blues team-mates.
Fontaine said: “I have done two promotions from this Championship and one from League One to the Championship in England with Bristol City.
“I was also part of a Yeovil promotion. I was on loan there in the first part of the season and they went on to get promoted.
“You know what it is on the line. You know the objective.
“Genuinely, every game is a cup final.
“My promotion with Bristol City went down to the last game of the season against Rotherham who had nothing to play for.
“But they were in the tunnel giving us stick saying things like it was twitchy bum time!
“We knew we had to go out, win the game and the promotion was sealed.
“We got the win and the promotion which is obviously a great feeling.
“So I have been in some good dressing-rooms and good situations, even winning cups when you have that pressure on you.
“You just have to find a way to get the job done – whether you win a game with pure quality or you stick in to get a goal in the final five minutes, you just have to find ways to win at this point of the season.”
‘We are in a good place’
Dundee have five matches remaining, starting with today’s clash with ninth-placed Morton, to secure their place in the end-of-season play-offs.
Level with Raith Rovers in second, Fontaine says the belief is in the squad to continue their good recent form that saw boss James McPake win Manager of the Month for March.
The stated aim is to finish in that second place to avoid an extra two-legged tie.
Fontaine, however, insists that’s not always a successful route, as he found out in 2015.
He added: “We are currently in a good enough position and it is in our hands with these last five games to cement it.
“We are in a good place. Even against Dunfermline when we went 2-0 down, earlier in the season, the game might have got away from us.
“But there is a belief in the squad and we know what we can do when we get the ball down and play.
“We have always been a threat and create a lot of chances.
“There are goals coming in from all over the pitch as you can see. If we can keep this up in the next five games, then we will see what happens after that.
“The league is so tight, it could go down to the last game.
“But if you can get the job done beforehand, then it is happy days.
“Ideally, you are targeting the second spot as you are missing having to play the extra two games.
“Saying that, I have been in that position where we finished second with Hibs and we had to wait around to play the winner of third v fourth.
“Rangers won that and went on to beat us and then go on to the play-off final.
“So the main aim is just to seal a play-off place and then take it from there.”