Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
O’Dea — We the scrap to
DUNDEE skipper Darren O’Dea is calling on his side to come out on top of tomorrow’s relegation “scrap” with Hamilton.
The central defender accepts the Dark Blues haven’t been good enough lately but is keen to see his side go into the split on the back of a positive result.
And, at the same time, damaging Accies’ hopes of staying i n t he division.
To manage that, O’Dea has warned his team-mates they need to be ready for a real battle at Dens tomorrow.
He said: “You know they are going to be dogged.
“I don’t think I’ve ever come off the pitch against Hamilton and thought ‘that was great’.
“I’ve won games, I’ve lost them but I’ve never come off having particularly enjoyed them.
“It’s going to be a scrap but it’s important we can match that and better the fight against them.
“You’re going to have to fight against Hamilton, if you go out thinking it’s going to be a pretty game of football, you’ll get turned over.
“So we’ll need to fight but also have the composure when the time comes to be able to create.
“Hamilton are always predictable in terms of you know you are always going to be in for a game. It’ll be tough but it’s a game at home we want to win.”
Dundee are rock bottom of the Premiership form table at the moment after losing their last six but went into a match earlier in the season against Martin Canning’s men on a similar run.
That day they sealed a 1-0 victory down in Hamilton and turned their season around.
They are aiming to repeat that feat this weekend by putting an end to another unwanted run of defeats.
“Everyone realises what the position is,” added O’Dea.
“I’d say probably all the clubs in the bottom six are in similar situations.
“Obviously we’re coming off the back of a poor run of form but they were similar fixtures to the poor run we had earlier in the season.
“If you look there was Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen, St Johnstone in there — I’m not making excuses — but at any other stage in the season if you lost to Aberdeen or Celtic you don’t take it too hard.
“When they’re bunched together its tough but it’s important the players stay upbeat.