January signing Henrik Ojamaa has been pivotal to Dundee’s impressive February revival, according to manager Paul Hartley.
Since crashing out of the Scottish Cup against St Mirren and being outplayed at Aberdeen, the Dark Blues have been unbeaten this month, with two eye-catching wins over Rangers and Motherwell the highlights.
There have been several outstanding performances in those back-to-back victories, including from Mark O’Hara, Marcus Haber, Craig Wighton and Darren O’Dea.
And Hartley believes the arrival of Estonian international Ojamaa on loan from Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles at the end of the January transfer window has been crucial in Dundee’s transformation.
He hasn’t actually scored, but Ojamaa’s arrival has allowed Hartley to change his tactics and get the best out of Haber.
“Bringing Henrik in has definitely helped me,” said Hartley.
“We’ve been struggling to find a partner for Marcus and getting Henrik has helped me change the shape of the team.”
Hartley added: “We’ve got an exciting young team here. What we’ve found is a shape and consistency to our play.
“I’m really pleased for them. They’ve put in so much work for these last two games.
“We’ve got another hard to games coming up. Hopefully we can maintain that level of performance.”
Victory over Partick Thistle tomorrow night would further enhance Dundee’s top six credentials, and potentially bring them to within four points of fifth-placed St Johnstone, who face Rangers at Ibrox.
“Three or four teams are trying to get one spot,” said Hartley.
“Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock both had big wins. Wednesday’s game is even bigger now.”
Meanwhile, James Vincent, another important player for Dundee recently, wants to see Dens Park (where they are seven games unbeaten) remain a daunting place for opponents to visit.
He said: “We have a decent record at home and we want to keep building on that.
“We want to make this a difficult place to play at – a fortress, so to speak.
“We had that when I was up in Inverness and we had a good home record.
“The gaffer here has us set up in an organised way and if we can maintain high performance levels, we can keep the home record going.”
