After all that has happened at Dundee in the last week, it has been all too easy to forget that the club actually have a league game to play.
It was just seven days ago that the Dark Blues parted company with manager Barry Smith with the side 15 points adrift at the bottom of the SPL table.
John Brown has been controversially brought in as interim boss and he will be in the Dens Park dug-out for the first time as his players line up against St Johnstone.
There has been ferocious opposition to Brown’s appointment from sections of the Dundee support however, Dark Blues striker John Baird is sure that if the players can produce a winning performance in the Tayside derby, the off-field matters will be forgotten at least temporarily.
He said: “It is a big derby and I think the supporters deserve a performance from us and we hope to give it.
“We have nothing to lose and we just have to go for it. We have to be positive to get a victory and three points. The league table tells its own story, but we just have to go and win games.
“The punters have been brilliant towards the team and I don’t see that changing to be honest with you. Obviously, people will have been reading what has been happening in the papers and stuff, but we bank on them every week.
“Even on Sunday against Celtic, you look over and they are still there with a minute to go. That was despite the fact that we were down to 10 men and were losing 5-0.
“I know fans at other clubs who would have left at half-time. But it’s what happens on the park that is the be all and end all.
“That dictates what’s happening, so it has to come from us and we will look to do that to help them forget everything that has happened off the park.”
Brown has already promised that his new charges will have a real go in the games remaining this season, and at his official unveiling as Dundee boss on Monday he used Baird as an example of someone he wants to see more of in the danger zone.
And that was music to the striker’s ears.
He said: “We have been working on getting more people into the box and fingers crossed it will come to fruition. The manager is looking for me to get into the box more and hopefully that will work out for the team.
“It is maybe a different outlook he is going for, but we will see how it goes.”
Brown was an interested spectator at St Johnstone’s home game against St Mirren on Saturday.
He saw enough to believe the Perth side will present a stern test for his players however, he has called on them to prove that his predecessor Smith was a good judge when he decided to sign them.
Brown said: “St Johnstone look a strong team. They have a lot of experience in their side and they don’t give the opposition many chances.
“They have a good goalkeeper and decent centre-halves who were never troubled by the likes of Stephen Thompson. I have just said to the guys look, it’s a 15-point gap so we have to take chances without being crazy.
“We have spoken to them about getting at their defence and creating opportunities from wide areas. We have had a good chat and the atmosphere has been great.
“They had a day off on Monday but they were buzzing when they came back for what is a big derby for us. Barry signed all of them and I said to them go and show people that he had a good eye for a player.
“By putting on good performances they can pay Barry back for having faith in them. If they can do that and we get results, then everyone will be happy with that.”
Brian Easton, who tweaked his hamstring against Celtic will sit out the game along with Matt Lockwood who is suspended following his red card at Parkhead.
However, on-loan Hoops defender Lewis Toshney, who was ineligible to play against his parent club, returns to the squad.