Dundee attacker Luke McCowan didn’t enjoy his first return to old club Ayr United at the start of the season.
Not only did the Dark Blues give up an early lead to lose 3-1 but McCowan himself limped off after just 32 minutes.
And he says he “owes them one” this week as one of the Championship most anticipated clashes draws nearer.
Dundee head to Somerset Park this Friday night just one point behind the league leaders after Ayr lost at Partick Thistle on Saturday.
And McCowan is keen to enjoy a better homecoming this time around than back in August.
The 25-year-old came through the Somerset Park youth setup, making a first-team debut in 2017 in an Ayr side that won the League One title.
After four seasons, McCowan swapped the Championship for the Premiership at Dens Park where he made a real impact early on in the top flight.
Can’t wait
Now he’s back in the second tier with Dundee and keen to boost his current club’s promotion chances with a win in Friday’s big game.
But, in doing so, he’ll damage his old club’s title tilt.
A club McCowan still has a lot of time for.
“There are people at that club who put in so much effort,” he said.
“It is probably a smaller club than Dundee in terms of there are about three people in the office compared to seven or eight you have here.
“They put so much work in and fair to play them.
“On the pitch, it has really clicked for them this year – we are hoping at one point it stops clicking!
“But they are doing really well.
“I cannot wait to go back down because the last time I was there, I had to go off 30 minutes with an injury.
“So I owe them one a wee bit.”
Home boos
There were also some boos from the home support during that last clash at Somerset Park.
That’s despite 19 goals in 78 games for Ayr and performing well enough that a top-flight club in Dundee came calling.
Asked about the boos, McCowan said: “I think it started coming with some people giving me boos and whatever.
“But then there were other people who realised how long I was there for and what I had done for them so they kind of cheered.”
Momentum
Despite the weekend game being postponed due to the wintry weather, Dundee will head into the contest at Ayr in fine fettle.
That’s after six straight wins and an unbeaten record in the Championship that stretches back to the start of October.
In that time they have defeated the Honest Men at Dens Park as well as registering victories over Partick Thistle, Inverness and Raith Rovers.
In doing so they have pushed themselves up from mid-table to second spot.
“We just need to keep the momentum going,” McCowan added.
“When it comes to big away games like Inverness and Ayr, we know if we can win them then they are the biggest momentum builders.
“The momentum is just building and building with each game.”
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