Cammy Kerr has revealed the words of encouragement he gave to young Dundee keeper Harry Sharp, recalling a pep talk by veteran Craig Beattie prior to his own debut.
The 20-year-old stopper was thrust into the limelight against Motherwell after Covid and injuries ravaged the squad, leaving the side without a senior goalkeeper.
But having not played a single minute for the Dark Blues before Saturday, Sharp looks set for another 90 minutes against St Mirren on Wednesday night.
Words of advice
Kerr, who has risen through the ranks and is now one of the senior Dens players, took it upon himself to give the rookie keeper some sage words.
The right-back said a similar chat given to him before his own debut in the 13/14 season helped get over his nerves.
“I went up to [Harry] and said he deserves to be where he is,” he said.
“I remember my debut for Dundee and I was very nervous.
“On the Friday, I was just about to walk out of Dens and Craig Beattie stopped me.
“He told me ‘You deserve to be here, puff your chest out and be brave’.
“That stuck with me.
“I didn’t say the exact same thing to Harry, but I told him how far he’s come in the last 18 months, to now be training with the first team every day.
“I said to go and enjoy it. He was great.”
Covid blow is opportunity for others
The Dark Blues injury and Covid troubles do not look likely to ease off in time for Wednesday’s clash with St Mirren.
Kerr says his side cannot feel sorry for themselves. Instead, he believes it is an opportunity for other fringe players to stake a claim for a regular place.
“You can sit and make excuses or you can get on with it,” he said.
“We’ve got plenty of people in the squad.
“We’ve got younger lads and people like McDaid who haven’t played in a while.
“So it’s an opportunity for people and it’s up to them whether they’ve got the right mentality to come in and do well, exactly what Deccy [McDaid] did on Saturday.
“We’ve not had the season we wanted, in terms of where we are in the league.
“The group of boys are still so focused on trying to get into the situation that we’re in.
“Every day you see it in training so hopefully we can bring that in to the next few games.”
