In nearly a decade at Dundee United, Keith Watson never lost a derby match against Dundee.
And in his first year at St Johnstone he doesn’t want that to change.
Injury prevented Watson from playing in the 2-1 win for Tommy Wright’s men earlier in the season, and he was an unused sub in the 3-0 Hogmanay defeat at Dens Park.
Newly established in the Saints starting line-up, the versatile defender can expect to be on from the start this afternoon.
And his appearance could be a good omen for the home side.
“The derbies have been good to me,” Watson said.
“I don’t think I’ve been in a losing team against Dundee.
“I’ve scored a couple at Dens too.
“When I was at United we didn’t play them every year because we weren’t in the same league every season, but there were a few cup games as well.
“Derbies are always really enjoyable. This will be my first experience of playing against Dundee for St Johnstone, and I’m looking forward to it.
“I was on the bench when we lost 3-0 at Dens. It’s down to the manager if I play in this one but we want the win to get nearer to securing our top six position.
“It’s a big game because Dundee want to get closer to us.
“I’m sure it will be a really good atmosphere. Hopefully we can get the three points.”
Dundee may have lost their last match against Partick Thistle but their improvement before then hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“They were on a poor run at one point and were sitting near the bottom of the league,” said Watson. “It didn’t look too good for them. But, credit to them, they’ve signed well and have kicked on.
“They’ve progressed up the league and have a great chance of making the top six.”
Watson has experience of playing against one of Dundee’s mid-season attacking recruits, and is in no doubt about the qualities of the other one.
He said: “The boy Haber has been at St Johnstone before and has played down south. He can cause us some problems.
“And I played against the lad Ojamaa a few times when he was at Motherwell. He’s very sharp. They both look like good signings.”
Manager Tommy Wright has called for a fast start from his players, who are looking to address home form that has been a source of frustration.
Saints have actually fared pretty well against the top six clubs on their own turf and Watson believes a derby atmosphere and a Dundee team on the up could bring out the best in them.
“The reason the game is so big is that we can go 10 points clear of them,” said Watson.
“We’re at home. OK, our form isn’t the greatest at McDiarmid Park, but what a great way to run it round. It’s a derby game and we’ll be giving it our all.
“It’s difficult to work out why we’ve not got such a good record at home. Our away from has been excellent.
“At home we’ve found it that bit more difficult to win games.
“We’ve spoken about it and I think we need to believe in ourselves more and take the game to Dundee. Then, when we get chances, we have to put them away.
“We need to come out of the traps flying. If we can get the first goal it will give us something to build on and will put the pressure on Dundee.
“The fact that it’s a derby and a good atmosphere should help us get off to a fast start, hopefully.
“They’ll have a decent support and hopefully we can produce a performance that makes them get on their players’ backs a bit.”
Two Saints players are definitely ruled out – Chris Kane and Chris Millar. Murray Davidson has a chance of playing and so does Steven Anderson.