DUNDEE’S Sofien Moussa is confident if his team defeat Motherwell at Fir Park this weekend, they will be safe from relegation.
The Tunisian striker scored both of Dundee’s goals in their 2-1 victory over St Johnstone at Dens Park on Saturday which took them into ninth place in the Scottish Premiership and six points clear of bottom placed Ross County.
Moussa’s contribution was vital, putting his team ahead within the first minute before scoring the winner just two minutes from full-time.
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It was a bad-tempered game, helped in no small part by the spat in which the Dundee manager Neil McCann and his St Johnstone counterpart Tommy Wright are currently embroiled.
Wright was jeered by the home fans pre-kick-off but appeared to relish the hostile atmosphere, waving to the home and away fans alike before he took his seat. And with McCann banished to the stand following his suspension due to his part in the fall-out when the teams met a month ago, there was certainly an edge to the match.
It was Dundee who snatched the all-important three points and Moussa is certain that one more win and they will retain their place in the top flight for next season.
“We knew we had to win this game because our situation is a little difficult. If we want to save this team and the club and then we needed to win that first game (post-split). The boys did great work, I am happy with my two goals and I hope next week we can also win and can be safer,” he said.
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“The next game (against Motherwell) will be very hard but if we win, I promise you we will be safe. So we have to prepare well and secure our place as early as possible.”
Dundee may be in the relegation dog fight that is the bottom half of the table post-spilt but Moussa, who only joined the Tayside club last summer, is adamant that the team’s position in the league belies the quality they possess.
“Our place is not here,” he emphasised.
“For me, only Celtic are at another level, and maybe Rangers, but the rest are the same as us. But we have to be mentally ready for every game.”
St Johnstone manager Wright was fuming at the manner in which his team lost the two goals and midfielder Chris Millar was equally frustrated at the two lapses which resulted in his team leaving Dens Park empty handed.
“I thought we deserved a draw,” he said.
“We dominated the game and the gaffer’s absolutely raging, as are the players, because it’s two stupid freekicks that we gave away and we don’t defend the cross balls. That’s all they’ve had in the game. It’s really disappointing.”
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While the two managers refused to be drawn post-match on the ongoing fall-out, Millar admitted that the players were well aware of what was going on, although it did not have any negative effect on his team. “It’s a wee bit needle which is sometimes not in the game these days. It’s a derby so there’s always a bit of spice.
“It hit everybody’s radar so we wanted to come here and win. We never did that and Dundee did so fair play to them. Everybody read the comments - he maybe doesn’t see eye to eye with the gaffer. That’s football and you’re not going to be pals with everybody. That’s just the way it is.”
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