GREG Stewart believes he netted the goal which was the catalyst for Dundee United’s dire run of form in the Ladbrokes Premiership this season in just their third game.
Now the Dundee player could be the man who finally consigns the Tannadice club to relegation - by scoring in a momentous Tayside derby at Dens Park on Monday evening.
If Kilmarnock, who are second bottom in the top flight, defeat Hamilton in a league game at New Douglas Park on Saturday they will move 11 points clear of United.
That result will give Paul Hartley’s team the chance to send Mixu Paatelainen’s side down to the Championship with either a draw or a victory two days later.
Stewart, who has been nominated for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award for the second season running, insisted he is only concerned with helping Dundee win the game so they can finish in as high a position as possible in the Premiership.
“It doesn’t really matter to us,” he said. “Whatever happens happens. We just need to try and get all three points.”
The 26-year-old believes he has already hurt United badly this term. His side was trailing 2-0 in the opening Dundee derby of the 2014/15 campaign at Tannadice back in August after a quickfire Blair Spittal double in the second half.
Stewart pulled one back late on and then James McPake levelled in the final minute. United would then manage to win just one of their next 19 league games – an appalling run that saw them fall some distance adrift at the foot of the table.
“My goal in the first derby was maybe a turning point for Dundee United,” he said. “We were 2-0 up with about eight minutes left. I scored and then they hit the underside of the bar after Scott Bain made a great save from Simon Murray. We went up the park and scored an equaliser with the last kick. Things like that can change a season and they have struggled ever since.”
If the future of United is uncertain the same can certainly be said of Stewart at Dundee. The player, who was linked with a move to Rangers just before the January transfer window opened, is set to be offered an extension to his current contract, which expires at the end of next season, in the coming weeks.
However, the man who Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, has described as “very talented”, stressed he was keen to play at the “highest level possible” in the future and admitted that may well be at another club.
“I spoke to the manager the other day and had a wee chat to see what’s happening,” he said. “I need to wait and see what I am going to do. Do I expect an offer from them? Yes. Would I sign an extension? I’ve not made my mind up yet. Would I have any concerns about seeing out my contract? No, none at all.
“I just want to finish the season and do my best and take it from there. But, as a footballer, you always want to play at the highest level possible and whether it’s at Dundee or elsewhere I don’t know. I just want to concentrate on doing what I am doing. I am enjoying my football and I want to finish the season and see what happens.”
Stewart has certainly savoured teaming up with Kane Hemmings, the striker who he played alongside at Cowdenbeath and who has also been nominated for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award, once again this season. Between them, they have scored 36 goals in all competitions.
“It’s easy to say we know each other inside out, but it’s just one of those things that happens sometimes in football,” he said. “We just clicked straightaway. We’ve not worked on it, it just happened naturally that I know where he’s going to put the ball and he knows what I’m going to do. It just keeps on working.
“The gaffer asked me before he signed him what he was like and I said ‘definitely sign him. I enjoy playing alongside him’. We’ve shown again this season that we can do it at the highest level in Scotland.
“For Kane to get 25 goals for Dundee in one season is amazing. We are a bottom six side this season, which wasn’t what we hoped for, but we were unlucky. For someone to score that number of goals is great.
“I’ve managed to get a lot more assists this season. I’m still learning as a player, but I’ve improved again this season. I’ve also chipped in with a few goals. I’m into double figures and I’ve played in midfield all season.”
The Dundee United players will be hoping Stewart's scoring touch deserts him at Dens Park on Monday, but know from bitter experience the threat which he poses to their slim chances of survival.
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