Dundee head into the top six buoyed by an impressive showing against Rangers on Wednesday.
The 0-0 draw put a sizeable dent in Philippe Clement’s hopes of securing the Premiership title.
But it also shone the spotlight on the Dark Blues after a successful return to top-flight football.
Tony Docherty has guided his team to a top-half finish in his first season as a manager after a rebuild job in the summer.
Now only two points behind St Mirren, Dundee could be on for a fifth place and the possibility of European qualification.
And that prompted Sky Sports pundit Chris Sutton to tout Docherty for the Manager of the Year award in response to praise from James McFadden.
McFadden said: “[Dundee have] probably proved a lot of people wrong, for a start.
“Tony Docherty’s first job as a manager, he has got his team into the top six, a newly-promoted side.
“And they have an outside chance of getting European football at the end of the season.
“He has done a remarkable job.
“He’s got young attacking players who are allowed to be attacking. They have to work and play within the structure and defend as part of the team but they are allowed to express themselves.
“He has built a foundation behind to allow that.
“A fantastic performance tonight [against Rangers] and I don’t think this will be the end for Dundee either.”
Chris Sutton added: “He’s my Manager of the Season, I had them relegated before a ball was kicked.
“I was one who wrote them off but what a job he’s done.
“I mean it’s impossible really for him to get them into the top six.”
McCowan for Team of the Year?
The love for the job done by Docherty was matched by the praise given to Luke McCowan and his performances over the season.
The playmaker has been a consistently top performer and leads the goalscoring charts at Dens Park with nine goals.
Former Dundee striker Kenny Miller hailed McCowan’s impact this term and was joined in the praise by ex-Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday as he tipped McCowan for Team of the Year.
Previewing Wednesday’s clash on Si Ferry’s Open Goal podcast, Miller said: “McCowan’s been their best player.
“He’s one of the guys…he won’t be up for Player of the Year but he’s been one of the top performers in the league.”
Halliday added: “Dundee are a good team.
“He [McCowan] won’t be far off team of the year.
“I think he’ll have enough votes [to be in the mix] and he might just miss out.”
Miller was doing co-comms for Sky Sports in live coverage for the game and awarded McCowan Man of the Match.
Conversation