Dundee winger Ryan Conroy has revealed he might get more from his trip to Dumbarton this weekend than just the three points he desires.
Conroy grew up in that part of the world and revealed a pre-match lunch could well be on the cards at his parents’ house before he prepares to do battle on the pitch in the all-important Championship match.
But while he will no doubt be happy with seeing his folks again, the 26-year-old will not be happy if the Dark Blues take anything less than maximum points back east at his home town team’s expense.
“It’s a bit strange going to Dumbarton,” he admitted.
“It’s my home town and my mum and dad’s house is just round the corner from the stadium. I’ll probably just walk the short distance to the ground which will be nice and give me plenty of time to prepare.
“I can have my lunch there and head to the ground, ready to go. Some of my pals will be there as they live in Dumbarton so I might get a bit of stick.
“But it’s a good place to go and play football the surface is first-class so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Dundee head to Dumbarton on a decent run of form and will be looking to build on back-to-back league wins which have kept them in touch with the teams above them.
Conroy is well aware that it will be no walkover for his side at the Bet Butler Stadium.
“They ran Dundee United close in the League Cup recently so we’re under no illusions that it will be a difficult game,” he said.
“They have a good mix of players with some youth and experience who will be wanting to get the three points. So it’s up to us to go there and try to keep our recent run of fine form going.”
“But the lads are buzzing. That’s us with two wins on the trot and we’re aiming to make it three. We always believed it would only take one win to get things going and hopefully we can carry on this run.
“We know this is going to be a very tight league which will probably go to the wire We just have to try and maintain this level of consistency and see where it takes us.”
Conroy netted the second goal in Dundee’s 2-0 win at Cowdenbeath last weekend but admits the Dark Blues’ main threat will come in the form of front pair Peter MacDonald and Craig Beattie, who scored a cracking first on Saturday.
Conroy said: “They’re forging a good partnership. They’ve both played at the highest level and are great to have in the team and the dressing-room.
“They’re big characters who keep everything lively which you need at any club. But we need goals from other areas of the pitch as well so that’s another area we’re working hard on.”
Dark Blues boss John Brown is meanwhile looking to his side to banish any question marks over their defensive capabilities at the Bet Butler Stadium.
Brown is well aware that the Sons’ goal-scoring tally of 14 is one of the highest in the league up to now and has highlighted the importance of stifling the hosts’ threat going forward.
Bomber said: “Looking at the results they’ve got, they are not far off of us so they would have been disappointed with the result last week (a 4-2 loss at home to Raith).
“But they are scoring goals so we’ve got to make sure we’re tight at the back. We have been in five out of the eight league games so far, but when we concede we concede.
“We’ve had three and four against us, so we’ve got to make sure we’re tight. But we’ve been defending better from the front two and that helps.
“Everybody has to do the legwork and they know the opportunity is there to move up the league because of Raith Rovers not having a game at the weekend.
“It’s that tight that one or two victories can move you up a number of positions. Even Morton, who are lying bottom, if they get two or three victories they’ll be in a healthy position.
“But we’ve kicked on from the Falkirk game when we lost 3-1, which was really disappointing.”
Defender Kyle Benedictus was due to undergo a scan on a back problem yesterday after he was forced off in the 3-3 reserve draw with Morton in midweek.
That will keep him out of the trip west, while Kevin McBride, who also had to be replaced in the reserve game, is struggling with a hamstring injury.