James McPake insists Dundee would be daft to believe Dundee United are not as strong as they were last season.
The Dark Blues pop over the road tonight to take on a team that has lost star men Nadir Ciftci, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong from the side that triumphed 6-2 on New Year’s Day.
Indeed, of that United line-up from just eight and a bit months ago only one man Chris Erskine featured against Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday.
Dundee, of course, has been much changed themselves but the consensus over the summer has been that they have become stronger, while people have been reluctant to say the same about the Tangerines because of the triple departure to Celtic.
Only time will tell on that score but McPake thinks it would be unwise for his teammates to think they won’t be getting it as tough against United as they would have done had their hosts been able to hang on to their trio of stars.
McPake said: “If you look at the three they have lost to Celtic – Mackay-Steven, Armstrong and Ciftci and the fact they play most weeks for Celtic that tells you they are good players.
“You would struggle to find another team in the league where three players could go to Celtic and start games.
“In that respect, you could say they are weaker, although I don’t know the players they have brought in.
“So it would be silly or unfair for me to comment on whether they are weaker or stronger, although they have certainly lost three very good players.
“It would be foolish for us to think they have gotten weaker.
“That would never be allowed to happen, from the manager down through the squad.
“Nobody would let that happen because it we did we would be in for a rude awakening.”
McPake is looking for improvement at the back from the Dark Blues tonight after shipping 10 goals in three matches against United at Tannadice last season.
He added: “It was bad defending but it was also last season so it’s gone.
“We are better now and we will go down there better equipped.”
McPake is determined to give the Dundee fans something to shout about, with their team having not won at the home of their rivals for 11 years.
“It is a big day for the fans,” he said.
“They want the bragging rights so they can go into work on a Wednesday morning to have a go at their mates.
“It’s their biggest game of the season and they want one over their rivals.
“We just need to forget the occasion and play like we have done for one and a half games this season.
“We are a different proposition this season because we have brought in new players.
“Even if we had lost the first two games of the season I would still say we are a better, stronger squad than last season.”
Dundee go into the game on the back of a 2-1 home loss to Hearts but McPake is determined to be positive.
“It was a reminder of how hard games are in this league,” he said.
“We were in control as much as we had been at Kilmarnock the week before when we won 4-0.
“Maybe if we had got another goal in the first half it would have been too big an ask for Hearts to come back.
“We didn’t play well enough in the second half but we played really well in the first half.
“For 45 minutes we were exceptional and that is the positive we will take from that game despite getting no points.”