Dundee defender Cammy Kerr has warned his teammates to steel themselves for their trip to “horrible” Balmoor Stadium.
The Dark Blues head north to Peterhead tonight for the third of their Betfred Cup group A matches, buoyed by Saturday’s 6-2 demolition of Dumbarton at Dens.
Kerr (20) knows from personal experience it can be less-than-perfect surroundings in the Blue Toon as the Dark Blues gear up to take on Jim McInally’s men.
The full-back spent two separate loan spells with the League One side before breaking into Paul Hartley’s top team and the level-headed youngster knows it did him the world of good in toughening him up.
He concedes Balmoor has the potential to be throw anything at the opposition and has told the Premiership visitors to prepare for an uncomfortable evening.
Kerr said: “It’s a horrible place to go.
“I loved my time up there and I learned a lot from playing first-team football.
“It was great experience but on days it can be awful, believe me.
“Between the travelling up and the weather, which can be anything, it can be a nightmare.
“I remember that for some games there were shocking conditions.
“Hopefully, it’s not too bad this time but we will wait and see.
“The people up there are great and the team have been doing well.
“They are also just behind us in the group table.
“So it is all set for a really tough game and we know we will have to be on our guard.”
Dundee surged into second-top spot in the group with their destruction of Dumbarton which proved they are taking this competition seriously despite their opening-day draw away to East Fife.
And local lad Kerr, who hasn’t looked back since winning man-of-the-match in his first Premiership appearance in a 2-1 win over city rivals Dundee United back last January, insists he would love nothing more than to get his hands on a cup.
Kerr said: “People talk about it as though it’s still pre-season.
“But for us it is much more than that.
“Personally, I just want to do as well as I can.
“We’re going into every game trying to win, which includes Peterhead and then Forfar on Saturday.
“Of course, you go into every competition to be successful. That has got to be our mindset.
“This is no different and we just want to get through to the next stages and then see where it takes us.”
Dundee took a while to find their stride at the weekend but Kerr knows when they hit top gear they can be hard to live with.
He said: “We got there in the end against Dumbarton.
“It really wasn’t like us.
“We weren’t great in the first half and we know ourselves it wasn’t good enough.
“But in the second half we showed how good we can be, especially up in the final third with Greg Stewart and Kane Hemmings.
“When they click, they can take some stopping.
“Hopefully, we can get in front and stay there but we know Peterhead will be very tough opponents.”
Meanwhile, Dens gaffer Hartley reckons their emphatic win at the weekend will stand his men in good stead for their Balmoor trip.
Hartley said: “The Dumbarton win has set us up nicely for Peterhead.
“I think it’s always difficult when the season is getting under way but the second-half performance on Saturday showed what we can do.
“The players know what they can produce on their day.
“We will be another two weeks before we are where we should be at this stage of the season and this will be another test.”
Dundee are still without midfield pair Paul McGowan and Nicky Low as well as long-term crock James McPake.
