John Nelms insists Dundee intend to be “up there with the big boys” following their promotion to the Premiership.
The Dens Park outfit swept aside abject Kilmarnock 4-2 on aggregate to end their two-year exile from the top-flight.
And managing director Nelms is adamant that, along with owner Tim Keyes, they have no intention of simply making up the numbers next term.
“We’ll take a breath and then see what we need to do — because we have big aspirations,” Nelms told BBC Scotland.
“We don’t want to just be staying in the league, we want to be up there with the big boys. Tim [Keyes] and I have big ambitions and we’ll need to figure it out.”
GOAL! Kilmarnock 0-2 Dundee
Dundee go 4-1 up on aggregate to put one foot back in the Scottish Premiership! Can Kilmarnock find a way back?
📺 Watch #Kille vs #TheDee live on Sky Sports Football! pic.twitter.com/1x7Ckd53nS
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 24, 2021
The ordinarily publicity-shy Nelms added: “We’ve had the good, the bad and the ugly here — and we’ll definitely take the good. We’ve learned from the bad, and want to make sure it never happens again.”
Meanwhile, Nelms is adamant he always retained faith in boss James McPake, despite some rocky periods during his bid to take Dundee back to the promised land of the Premiership.
He added: “I wish we had gotten it right at the beginning — it would have been a smoother season — but Hearts were deserved winners and this is where we thought we would be.
“The whole goal was to be promoted this season and here we are.
“We see what happens behind the scenes and when James makes a mistake, he owns it and tries to correct it. He works and works until he gets it right — and the team believes in him.”
Dundee analysis: The Dark Blues are back in the big time and it’s no less than they deserve