Dundee defender Gary Irvine has admitted the players owe themselves and their fans a good performance when they host Ayr United tonight.
After two frustrating results on the bounce an away defeat to Hamilton followed by a home draw against Raith Rovers the Dark Blues are desperate to put things right against the Honest Men at Dens this evening.
The match has been rearranged after floodlight failure saw the original game postponed two weeks ago.
During the intervening time, Barry Smith’s boys have faltered while runaway leaders Ross County have all but wrapped up the First Division championship.
Dundee know the best they can get is second spot and Irvine reckons achieving that would at least maintain the progress the club has made since emerging from administration.
”The last two performances have not been good enough so we are glad to have a game so soon,” said Irvine. ”We want to get back on track and finish the season strongly. We owe it to ourselves and to the fans to do that. I have no doubt that we are one of the better teams in the league but we have to show that again.
”When you look at where the club has come from over the last 18 months things are much better now. Obviously we want to win things and we are disappointed that promotion has probably slipped away from us. But when you see the progress the club has made then there are plenty of positives.
”The club is much more stable and we are up at the top end of the league. There is progress being made, although nobody will say we are not disappointed at not being closer to Ross County.”
The Dens men faced one relegation-threatened team in the form of Raith at the weekend and now they meet another in the shape of Ayr, who sit just above Rovers in eighth spot.
”Ayr are fighting for their lives so will come here all guns blazing,” said Irvine. ”We will have to make sure we match them and improve on the performance against Raith.”
Dundee will be without striker Carl Finnigan after he limped off with a knee injury at the weekend. The on-loan St Johnstone striker is on crutches and will have a scan to discover the extent of the damage.
Manager Smith revealed: ”Carl is going for a scan on his knee so we are going to have to wait and see what that shows up. His knee is still swollen so it is difficult to say at this moment what the full extent of the problem is.”
Smith was critical of his players after the Raith match but is expecting a positive reaction tonight.
“What we have to remember is that the boys have done well this season,” said Smith. “The last two games have been below the standard we have set.
“The players were as disappointed as the fans were on Saturday. They are hurting because they know they can do better and we want to finish the season as strongly as possible. There is a determination among everyone to make sure we don’t just let things slip away.”
Ayr’s draw with Morton at the weekend took them to the 32-point mark one more than they gathered in their entire First Division campaign of 2010.
The Honest Men were relegated that year and manager Brian Reid is only concentrating on surviving this time around.
“Some people are saying that 40 points will see us safe but I am not looking that far ahead,” said Reid. “All I am focusing on is picking up three points from Dundee.
“Ross County will win the league but I don’t think that this game becomes any easier as a result. Dundee will want to push hard until the end of the season.”
Reid is without on-loan pair Jamie McKernon and Sean Higgins.