The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Dark Blues’ long-suffering defender wants change of fortunes at Mcdiarmid
Dens defender wants to see change in mentality for short trip to Perth
Cammy Kerr didn’t have a lot to celebrate as a Dundee fan on visits to Mcdiarmid – now as a player, he is hoping for a lot more pleasure than pain against St Johnstone today.
The 22-year-old full-back is a lifelong supporter of the Dark Blues but he is the first to admit that Perth was far from a happy hunting ground for his favourites.
Kerr even candidly confessed that rotten record was something he eventually took for granted when he was a youngster.
That, though, is the type of mind-set manager Neil Mccann is trying to eradicate from the club and Kerr believes the players can show they are well on the road to achieving that aim with a victory this afternoon.
He said: “I’ve been through quite a few times with my mates at this time of the year. We always take a big support to Perth and the fans do hold that sense of expectation.
“They will be coming in their numbers again so it would be great to give them a victory.
“When I watched Dundee there as a fan, we probably didn’t do as well as we should have.
“I remember coming back up the road disappointed on a number of occasions. As a Dundee fan growing up, you kind of got used to it to be honest.
“So that’s something we want to change. We want to change that into a winning mentality at this club and I think it’s swinging in the right direction.
“It’s been a weird kind of season. Performance-wise we’ve been really good but results haven’t been there at times. We should have won a few games more so that’s the aim, to turn such matches into victories.”
Kerr and the rest of his team-mates have even greater incentive to do well in the Tayside derby after failing to do themselves justice in their Boxing Day match with champions Celtic.
The Hoops cruised to a 2-0 victory with Mccann admitting his team were not aggressive enough.
Now, Kerr is looking to put that right. He added: “We want to bounce back after the Celtic game.
“We were a wee bit disappointed in how we played on Boxing Day. Obviously the aim is to end the year on a high.
“We had some good performances prior to Celtic against the likes of Partick Thistle and Motherwell.
“We’re striving towards doing the right things but we know how tough the game will be at St Johnstone.
“We played them last season at this time of year and got a victory so hopefully it will be the same this time round.
“We’ll definitely take confidence from the fact we beat them 3-2 at Dens. That was our first win of the season.
“We know how St Johnstone have built their team over the past few seasons and have kept their mainstay players.
“We know what we’re up against but with the kind of players we’ve got, we are entitled to go there confident ourselves.
“There was maybe a build-up of expectation going into the Celtic game.
“We probably didn’t perform to the levels we’ve shown in recent weeks. But we want to get back to those levels and try to force ourselves up the table.”
Today’s game will be Dundee’s seventh in December with a mid-winter break coming up after the hectic schedule.
Kerr added: “Christmas was slightly different from last season as we were off this time. I had an early night but still had my Christmas dinner, although maybe not as much.
“I do watch what I eat and it’s just one of the sacrifices of being a footballer at this time of the year.”