Bottom of the top flight as wings clipped yet again

Monday 1 October 2012

DUNDEE have long suspected this is where they should be.

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Chris Tait

There are not many that will argue with them. The club have had to wait seven years to move back into the top flight but are yet to furnish their return with a home win, their latest attempt bringing further indignity as St Johnstone took advantage of their derby rivals' hospitality to make off with the points.

Dundee are now four points adrift at the foot of the table.Dens Park shifted uncomfortably as the result unfolded but only because there could be few complaints; some of the home side's defending had been absent-minded – or just absent – and by the end it was clear that two clubs united by rivalry had grown apart since they last goaded each other. That had come in the Irn-Bru First Division, when St Johnstone won 1-0, but Dundee were forced to relive the past on Saturday.In a sense they have not been allowed to let it go. Seven of those involved in that match in 2009 were present on Tayside again yesterday – four of them for Dundee. The disorientating route the Dens Park side took to the top flight in the summer has been exacerbated by the understandable decision to pursue players capable of enjoying success in the first division as they awaited their fate, but those same players have seemed unsettled in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. Cup wins are often used to indicate a narrowing of the gap between those in the Scottish Football League and those in the top flight but a league season is a longer, more rigorous examination of ability.Dundee's cause has been weakened by injuries – four players with top-flight experience were absent at the weekend – and there has already been evidence that sides cannot cope when even one or two of their best players are kept from them. Dundee need only look over the road to Tannadice for a working example of that. Yet of their absentees only St ephen O'Donnell and Davide Grassi might walk back into the team, and neither should expect to lead a quick-march up the league table.That sort of thing was left to St Johnstone on Saturday; the taste of victory savoured just that little bit longer as it took the Perth side to within three points of the league summit. It is only October, so that is likely to be as close as they get, but you could not blame supporters if such a rise elicits lofty ambitions. Four wins have now come in succession – against Celtic, Ross County, Queen's Park in the Scottish Communities League Cup, and now Dundee – and their momentum was unperturbed by the concession of a penalty shortly after they went ahead at Dens Park, St Johnstone waiting just five minutes to re-establish a lead.Form has allowed goals to flourish in the squad as well as confidence, with the Perth side finding the net 11 times during their recent run. The challenge will now be to ensure the loss of striker Steven MacLean to an unsightly elbow injury does not stymie that, although St Johnstone have already overcome adversity this season. "Nobody gave us a chance in the week leading up to Celtic with the illness but we've always had that togetherness and work rate," said Liam Craig, scorer of St Johnstone's second goal. "We know if we bring that to the game then we have the quality to win games."

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Bottom of the top flight as wings clipped yet again

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