Dundee manager Jim McIntyre won’t be worried if his players look nervous ahead of their relegation battle with St Mirren.
The Dark Blues head west to Paisley on Saturday knowing that they need wins to haul themselves out of trouble.
McIntyre, who will be an interested spectator tonight at McDiarmid Park as the Buddies take on St Johnstone in their game in hand, is expecting some butterflies to be fluttering in bellies at the Simple Digital Arena because of what is at stake.
However, he doesn’t see that as a bad thing.
The Dens gaffer said: “Of course there will be nerves.
“Being nervous is a good thing going into a game like this.
“I think you just have to trust in your work and hope the players understand what you are looking for going into the game.
“From my point of view, it is all about making sure that the players know what is expected of them and what their jobs are.
“It is then up to them to bring their A games and take it from there.
“We have had a lot of good play in recent matches but, at this stage of the season, we must pick up points.
“We haven’t picked up enough, especially here at home.
“We have been better at doing that on the road so hopefully that is a good omen for Saturday.
“I will go to watch St Mirren against St Johnstone.
“As our games have been on different days to theirs we have actually seen them twice recently as well. It is always good to get another look at them.
“It is a huge game for both clubs on Saturday.
“However, it is not going to decide anything because there will still be seven other crucial matches to play after that.
“I fully expect it (the survival battle) to go to the wire anyway but there is nothing better than getting a shot in the arm by winning one of the head-to-head games.
“The games against St Mirren and Hamilton will be crucial.
“We don’t want to go back the way in the table but we also want to catch what is in front of us.
“Right now Hamilton have a six-point advantage over us so our focus is on getting points on board so that we can eat away at that advantage.
“It is about getting momentum and putting back to back results together. We have not done that all season.
“That is what it is going to take to get us out of this.”
