Dundee may be sitting proudly atop the Championship table but boss John Brown will be taking nothing for granted when they face second bottom Cowdenbeath at Dens on Saturday.
The Blue Brazil’s struggles this season cost Central Park manager Colin Cameron his job last month, with the man who had been his predecessor at the club, Jimmy Nicholl, being drafted in for his second spell in charge.
The Northern Irishman looked to have worked his magic in his first game last week when the Fife outfit stormed into a 2-0 lead with just 13 minutes left against Livingston, thanks to a brace from striker Kane Hemmings, who has scored 12 goals in total for the Championship strugglers so far this season.
Livi, however, produced a remarkable comeback to win 3-2.
Despite that, Brown is convinced that his former Rangers team-mate Nicholl will have his new charges fully prepared to cause an upset at Dens.
He said: “Next season in this division should be big money for all concerned. There are obviously a lot of teams who want to go up but Cowdenbeath will just be looking to survive in the Championship.
“Jimmy Nicholl is coming here on Saturday and he has been put in there because of their situation.
“They were two goals ahead last weekend thanks to the lad Hemmings, who also caused us problems when we played them down there so they have goals in them.
“However, we are the home team and we have to respond to that cup disappointment two weeks ago against Raith. We were very disappointed in the way we started the game.
“We have a couple of home matches coming up and we have to take advantage of that.
“The next three games will give us a bearing on the way the season is going and they are a massive nine points but we must fully focus on Cowdenbeath on Saturday.”
Dundee’s reserve goalkeeper Dan Twardzik has been loaned to Motherwell for a month.
Gunnar Nielsen has been playing in goal for the Steelmen while Lee Hollis is sidelined with an ankle injury but the Faroe Islands international is a doubt for their match against Ross County after picking up an injury during last Friday’s 5-0 defeat by Celtic.
Under-20s goalkeeper Ross Stewart has been on the bench in recent weeks but other youth goalkeepers have injuries.
Twardzik, the 22-year-old brother of Celtic twins Filip and Patrik, arrived in Scotland at Aberdeen from Italian football in January but has not played a first-team game for either the Dons or Dundee.