Josh Mulligan hopes it’s 3rd time lucky for promotion party as Dundee star plays key Championship role

Josh Mulligan hopes it will be third time lucky and he can finally enjoy the full promotion party package with Dundee.

The 20-year-old was loaned out by Dundee in 2020 to Cove Rangers and was part of a squad that went up to League One after the season was curtailed by Covid.

Mulligan was awarded a medal but he and the rest of his team-mates were denied a party because of lockdown.

A year later, he was able to celebrate as the Dark Blues clinched promotion to the Premiership through the play-offs.

Congratulations to @DundeeFC who have been promoted to the Scottish Premiership after a 4-2 aggregate win over Kilmarnock in the play-off final! 👏 pic.twitter.com/TBXt2Nvppl

— SPFL (@spfl) May 24, 2021

However, the midfielder had been unable to play his part on the pitch that season after undergoing ankle surgery.

Now though, Mulligan is a key player in Dundee’s current Premiership promotion push.

And if they can make it over the line, he is determined to savour the celebrations even more.

Covid

Mulligan said: “When I was on loan at Cove, the season was cut short because of Covid.

“But we won the league and I got a medal for that. I have it sitting pride of place in my bedroom.

“We couldn’t celebrate because of lockdown so we just had to text each other with congratulations.

“The Covid times were very difficult but I really enjoyed my spell at Cove.

“I could have played 18s or for the reserves but wanted to play first-team football.

“Then when Dundee won promotion two years ago, I tore ligaments in my ankle playing against Cove in pre-season.

“I had to get an operation on that and was out for a while.

“That was a struggle, to be fair, but I came back much stronger from that.

“It was great that the lads won promotion and I was able to celebrate with them but it was tough being injured.

“Hopefully it will be third time lucky this season – I will have played my part and we can celebrate.”

Josh Mulligan is laser-focused on next game

Dundee are top of the Championship table with just four matches remaining but Mulligan is taking nothing for granted.

Instead, he will continue to follow boss Gary Bowyer’s instructions to simply focus on the next game.

That starts with Saturday’s visit of Morton and the Scotland Under-21 star admitted: “That’s the message he gives us.

“People go on about this or that game being massive but he tries to get the point across that it is just another match and another three points.”

Dundee’s win over Raith Rovers at Dens on Tuesday night extended their unbeaten run to six games.

Mulligan believes the Dark Blues are reaping the rewards of defensive solidity and two strikers in Zach Robinson and Alex Jakubiak who are bang on form.

Mulligan said: “The last five or six games we have been solid defensively and we have found that spark going forward.”