Dimitar Mitov is happy to be playing his part in making St Johnstone a tough nut to crack in defence.
Now the Perth goalkeeper hopes to contribute to making them harder to defend AGAINST.
Saints have made steady progress since Craig Levein took charge, all while fighting their way clear of bottom spot in the Premiership.
Victory over second bottom Ross County last week gave them a five-point cushion over the Staggies to add to their 11-point lead over basement-dwelling Livingston.
Incredibly, given where the Perth side have come from this season, a win against Dundee on Sunday would catapult them above their opponents and into the top six.
That’s something Mitov is confident they can achieve.
He said: “For us it’s a great opportunity. People are kind of saying that we’re not having as good a season, but if we win on Sunday, we’ll actually be in the top six and AHEAD of Dundee.
“It’s a strange league. The most important thing for us is to make sure we put a good performance in. If we do that, then the three points will follow.
“To be honest, I’m not normally the kind of guy who looks closely at the league. I’m usually focusing game-by-game.
“But there’s been a lot of talk about this and the manager has let us know that if we win, we’re top six and the whole picture changes.
“This is a great chance. We need to go there and do our best. If we have the best version of ourselves, we win the game.”
Mitov’s confidence in Saints’ capabilities has been boosted by the January additions of speed-merchant strikers Benji Kimpioka and Adama Sidibeh.
Scoring goals hasn’t come particularly easy for the Perth side, who have instead been focused on defensive solidity as key to top flight survival.
Mitov’s shot-stopping prowess has helped on that front.
But he feels St Johnstone’s new attacking pace and power has given a new dimension to their play – and a new option to him when looking to release the ball forward.
“I feel the first thing the new management created was a really solid team that people can’t score against,” said Mitov, who played as a striker in his younger years.
“We haven’t really conceded more than one in a game, apart from Celtic. That’s given us a foundation for the attacking players, to say that we’re going to be solid at the back so we just need you to win the game for us.
“We also need to create more chances, we need to score more goals. Everyone knows that and we’ve been working really hard to change that.
“We have more than good enough players to win us games. You can see Nicky comes on against Hearts for 20 minutes and is unlucky to get cleared off the line with one chance.
“We’ve got that quality to get goals but just need to be a little bit more ruthless up top.
“It will help having Benji and Adama. It almost messes with the head of the defenders because they’re not sure.
“Are they going to come short? Are they going in behind? It’s a really good option for us.
“When we feel under pressure a bit, we have someone to stretch teams and get the team forward.
“We just need to make sure we keep it really solid at the back and give the front players enough opportunity to win the game.”
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