Matt Lockwood says there will be no room for sentiment when a club legend returns to Dens today.
Barry Smith was a huge fans’ favourite when he was a player with the Dark Blues and then cemented his place in the club’s history books when he masterminded the “great escape” by keeping Dundee in the old First Division after they were docked 25 points for entering administration for the second time.
Last year, however, when Dundee were catapulted into the SPL at the last minute following Rangers’ financial collapse, Smith’s squad struggled badly and he was sacked.
Now, though, he has just returned to management, being appointed Alloa boss on Thursday.
By sheer coincidence, Smith’s first game in charge with the Wasps will be against Dundee and although Lockwood retains great respect for his former boss, he will be going all out to ensure that his debut is one to forget.
Lockwood said: “It’s brilliant to see Barry back in management. Obviously, what happened here was hard for him. It was upsetting to see him have to go through what he did.
“When things like that happen to guys such as Barry, it is tough but that’s football. There is no loyalty, I suppose, in the game.”
Lockwood insists that if Dundee had not gone up to the SPL at the last minute, Smith might still have been in charge at Dens.
He added: “The only reason he lost his job was because we got promoted when we shouldn’t have done.
“He was building a team for the First Division and then, two weeks before the start of the season, we were told we would be in the SPL.
“If we hadn’t been promoted, he wouldn’t have lost his job, simple as that. He might even have been here now, you never know.”
Dundee have lost their last two league games to Livingston and last week at Falkirk, a defeat which saw them replaced at the top of the table by the Bairns.
Lockwood insists the players are determined to get back to winning, with everyone at the club fully aware of exactly what is at stake this season.
He added: “We are coming off the back of two defeats and it is a huge game for us on Saturday.
“There is such a big prize at the end of the season, promotion to the Premiership.
“That’s what all the clubs are aiming for. That’s what the teams want.
“It is so tight and anyone could do it at the moment. No one is running away with it so it is in our hands and we know that.
“The performances haven’t been good enough recently. If we can improve, then we should be OK but it will be a tough game on Saturday against a good Alloa team.”
Dundee will be without the injured Iain Davidson, Nicky Riley and Craig Beattie.