In recent weeks I’ve been banging on that, disappointing as Dundee results have been so far this term, this is not a time to be panicking.
I’ll say it again, clubs the size of the Dark Blues have to accept that, at times, they will be fighting it out at the wrong end of the table.
Being in denial about that is dangerous. Accepting these periods will come and being ready when they do provides the best chance of successfully riding out the storm.
Having said all that, even I can’t deny the week ahead is a big one for Paul Hartley and his team.
As much as he’ll want to pick up the points he needs to pull away from the bottom of the table, I’m not sure the Dens Park boss would have picked a fixture list that includes three games in seven days from tomorrow’s visit to St Johnstone.
The trip to McDiarmid Park, the home clash with Partick on Wednesday and the visit to Hamilton next Saturday coming so close together just adds to the pressure to start picking up victories.
Take the three points from a couple of these games and this time next week things will be looking better.
Fail to win any of them and that disappointing start will become a full-blown crisis.
Of course, it goes without saying that I’m hoping it’s the first scenario that unfolds.
And hope it will comes from improved performances in the recent clashes with Celtic and Hearts.
In those games, Dundee looked more solid defensively and produced some good football. Problem is they both ended in defeat.
And the pessimist in me always worries when one of my teams is playing well but not winning.
There will always be spells in a season when a side is not playing well. Even the very top clubs are not at their best in every single game.
For clubs like Dundee, that means when they are playing decent stuff they have to turn those performances into points.
Hopefully, that’s exactly what they will do in this trio of fixtures.
If they can, in a week’s time we can be talking whether or not this is a team that can be challenging for the top six again.
And I can stop sounding like Corporal Jones from that old sitcom Dad’s Army.
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