Things will be different this Tayside derby

DUNDEE will be desperate to put their worst display of the season firmly behind them against St Johnstone this weekend at Dens.

The good news for the Dark Blues is things will certainly be different this time around.

That’s not in doubt because both teams will certainly have a different look about their starting line-ups.

Back on March 10, the Perth Saints romped to a deserved 4-0 win at the home of their Tayside rivals.

It could even have been a bigger scoreline with Dundee extremely poor on the day.

Since, though, the Dark Blues have rallied somewhat and will want to put that dark 90 minutes firmly behind them and push themselves on to Premiership survival.

One contributing factor to Dundee’s dreadful display was the absence of key midfield duo Paul McGowan and Glen Kamara due to suspension.

Both have been pivotal to the way manager Neil McCann wants his side to play with their ability on the ball and McGowan’s leadership in the middle of the park.

Kamara, in particular, has been superb since signing for the club in the summer and is a front-runner for the club’s Player-of-the-Year award.

The last St Johnstone clash is the only game the Finnish international has missed all campaign and it’s no surprise that without him, they struggled to move the ball through midfield.

He impressed against both Celtic and Rangers in recent weeks and will be a key player if Dundee are to get anything from Saturday’s game.

McGowan, meanwhile, has been struggling with injury after picking up a knock in training that kept him out of the Rangers game 10 days ago.

It’s expected he’ll be available, however, to add some steel to the middle of the park.

He certainly won’t stand for a repeat performance from his side.

Another possible returnee is captain Darren O’Dea after a hamstring issue saw him miss both recent trips to Glasgow.