Paul McGowan invariably knows a player when he sees one. Kerr Waddell, Dundee’s emerging centre-back, is one he believes is destined for great things.

McGowan was piovotal in helping Waddell become the hero for Neil McCann’s side at the weekend as his injury-time corner led to the teenager’s winning header having earlier put the Dark Blues in the lead on the stroke of half-time, only for Kyle Lafferty to cancel it out with a 71st minute equaliser.

The 19-year-old was a relative unknown until earlier this season when McCann, who’d caught glimpses of him during his stint as interim manager towards the end of last season, showed trust in him and since then the teenage centre-back has blossomed by showing maturity beyond his years.

Like any promising youngster, the former Dens Park youth player still has some way to go before he can be regarded as the finished article, but former Celtic midfielder McGowan is convinced he has all the attributes necessary to hit some considerable heights.

“Kerr is terrific. Any ball in the air he just goes for it and eats it up,” stated McGowan after Dundee had stretched their unbeaten run to three games while consigning Craig Levein to his first defeat since recently taking over as manager of the Tynecastle club for the second time.

“For a young kid that’s a fantastic attribute.

“If he can keep going like this he’s going to have a bright future at Dundee.

“He’s still learning and will make mistakes but I’ll take him in my team all day long.

“If the young lads are good enough then play them.

“You only get experience by playing. Kerr, Cammy Kerr and Lewis Spence will only get better.

“I can understand why people say you need know-how in this league because it is tough but the young players here are certainly up for the battle.”

Dundee are gradually turning Dens into something of a fortress, with this being their second consecutive home victory.

It’s beginning to click for McCann who purposefully tweaked his line-up to counter the physical threat posed by Levein’s visitors.

It’s perhaps just a pity they don’t have another fixture this weekend to maintain their momentum, but the signs would suggest that should they keep this form going, top-six is most certainly a genuine target.

For Hearts, their concession of both goals from set-pieces would have been enough to give Levein cause for concern , and for their own revival to continue after the international break some serious work requires to be done on the training field in between times.