Kane Hemmings’ goals can give Dundee the edge over their rivals in the race to finish fourth in the Premiership.
That is the view of his fellow frontman Rory Loy, who lined up alongside Hemmings as he took his tally for the season to 19 with another strike against Dumbarton in the William Hill Scottish Cup on Tuesday.
After securing their quarter-final place against Rangers, the attention now turns to league business and the visit of Inverness Caley Thistle to Dens Park this afternoon.
With the table being so tight only eight points separate fourth-placed Ross County and Kilmarnock in 11th Loy believes having on-form Hemmings in their side can be the difference between a fabulous finish and an OK ending to the campaign.
Loy said: “Kane is on fire and the system we’re playing suits him.
“He is getting chances and he is taking them.
“A striker on that type of form always believes he is going to score.
“When you are playing like he is you just don’t think about anything other than scoring.
“He has been phenomenal. It’s crazy to think that three or four months ago he was on the bench.
“Then, against Hamilton, the manager gave him the nod to play up there himself and he has never looked back.
“He is in the form of his life. Having someone in your team who can score that amount of goal is huge.
“That can be the difference between finishing fourth and 11th this season, with the league being so tight.”
Loy believes that Hemmings’ total stands comparison with those of Leigh Griffiths at Celtic and Aberdeen’s Adam Rooney, who have bagged 32 and 19 respectively in all competitions.
The reason is that, as he rightly argues, you get fewer opportunities to score as a Dark Blues striker than you do with both the league-leading Hoops and second-placed Dons.
“I would imagine Rooney and Griffiths will get more chances than Kane simply because they’re playing for Aberdeen and Celtic,” added Loy.
“That’s no disrespect to our side. So I would imagine ratio-wise he’s got to be up there.
“You can’t argue with his record and his stats will speak for themselves.”
Hemmings has been linked with a big-money move to Chinese side Beijing Renhe.
While Dundee have denied there has been any contact, Loy isn’t surprised that his colleague has been at the centre of transfer speculation.
Loy added: “He is 23 and has scored 19 goals already this season so you would be mad not to look at him.”
Dundee have an Old Firm double-header to look forward to Celtic in the league on Wednesday then Rangers in the Scottish Cup on the Saturday after this clash with ICT.
Loy won’t be letting his mind wander, though.
He said: “It’s definitely important we don’t take our eye off Inverness.
“There are another three points up for grabs against a club who are around the same position as us in the league.
“It’s so bunched and tight in there that the manager certainly won’t let us take our eye off the ball, regardless of what games are coming up.”
Win this afternoon and the Dark Blues will do their chances of finishing in fourth spot a power of good.
That lofty position is a realistic target, as acknowledged by Loy.
He said: “Of course we can look at it.
“But if you were to go into Kilmarnock’s dressing-room – and if they win their next two games – they would say the same.
“It’s that tight.
“Every club is pushing to finish as high as they can and picking up points whenever you can is vital.
“We’ve definitely hit form but you might argue that the last seven or eight weeks of the season is the time to have the form.
“Winning breeds confidence and form is big in that sense.
“The first goal was massive in the Dumbarton game.
“Once we got that goal it calmed us down.
“It was plain sailing from there.”