Quiet weekend, that. Not sure what to write about.

As was the case at 4.50pm on Saturday, I quite simply do not know where to start. Leading Motherwell 2-0, perhaps very slightly against the run of play, with Hibs being held by St Johnstone and shortly to go behind, Dundee were for all intents and purposes 10-15 minutes away from a confirmed top-six finish at the first time of asking. It had the potential to be a memorable match for all the right reasons, even after another mildly farcical build up to the game was overshadowed by our ongoing pitch saga.

However, Dundee gonna Dundee, and for the umpteenth time this season, we threw away a perfectly good lead in spectacular fashion. VAR intervened to give what I am contractually obliged to describe as a very soft penalty for handball akin to those that VAR seems to have uniquely dragged into being in the Scottish game. Said penalty was saved, with the home fans' cheers extinguished first by the rebound being tucked away, before their resurrection for some sort of encroachment was similarly put down by a VAR review allowing the goal to stand. Fans had barely had time to digest the strange set of circumstances before Aaron Donnelly was rag-dolled by Theo Bair for a quickfire equaliser, with the cherry on the cake being the pathetic capitulation in injury time to revive Motherwell's slim top-six hopes and leave me slumped in disbelief. What the hell happened?

While the VAR decision was undoubtedly the catalyst for our collapse, the warning lights were flashing on the dashboard when Kettlewell brought on Lennon Miller and Moses Ebiye shortly after we went two up. The introduction of Motherwell's answer to Lyall Cameron and the Nigerian striker shifted the momentum, at first subtly, and then like a runaway train once fear and doubt set in to the Dundee backline. Despite Motherwell running over the top of us repeatedly, the more experienced players on the park did nothing to calm things down, nor did Docherty - perhaps prematurely suffering from the Manager of the Month curse bestowed upon him today - bring on Boateng to shore up the midfield and slow things down. It was at once a frustrating and an alarming watch, making clear that Docherty will still have some work to do in summer to build upon the strong start his first - and young - squad has made.

That is perhaps the crux of the matter, here. It's been great to watch a young, dynamic Dundee side go at teams without fear and to play with freedom and creativity, but the longer the season has gone on, the more that inexperience - at least at the top level - has cost us. We have now lost either 22 or 23 points from winning positions this season - a figure I am too scunnered with to properly check - and at least half of those points have been surrendered from a two-goal lead. Had we even cut out those capitulations, Dundee would currently be sitting a comfortable fourth in the table. No other side in the division comes close to crumbling so regularly. That we have conceded by far the fewest fouls of all the teams in the top tier also suggests we need to be a bit more streetwise at times, too.

In some ways, this will come across as spectacularly ungrateful. After all, if you've told me at the start of this season that picking up a win against either Rangers or Aberdeen would guarantee top six, I'd have bitten your hand off. The pitfalls and calamities of this season, such as Saturday, will also do more good than harm in the long run for our younger players, and top six remains well within our own hands. Regardless of these caveats, though, there is a growing consensus that a failure to make the top six could now feel like a real missed opportunity. With five European spots likely up for grabs, and fifth-placed St Mirren facing Celtic away at the weekend, the win necessary for a top-six finish would put us just a point behind the Buddies and leave us in a foot race to get on that plane. Failing to grasp our chance this week will instead lead to dead rubbers, what-could-have-beens and a petering out of a season that should, either way, be looked on positively by the dark blue faithful.

However, there's no time to dwell on the trauma inflicted by the weekend result, as tempting as it is to wallow. An unlikely win in midweek will put us over the top and let us party at Pittodrie; even a draw makes our lives a little easier, as it would require Hibs to win, something that seems as likely to elude them as it does us. The team has bounced back well from its previous nightmares, so all I can do is back them to do the same this time.