O’hara insists only way is up for Dark Blues after loss at Killie

Midfielder confident fightback will start this afternoon at Firhill

Mark O’hara insists the only way is up for Dundee as they look to secure a place in the top six and avoid the relegation dogfight at the wrong end of the Premiership table.

The Dark Blues are still trying to work out exactly how they contrived to lose Tuesday’s match against Kilmarnock, surrendering a 2-1 lead against a team reduced to 10 men to ultimately lose 3-2.

That result means Neil Mccann’s men are still only five points ahead of rockbottom Ross County, while they are seven behind Motherwell in sixth.

However, midfielder O’hara is adamant Dundee will haul themselves clear of the danger zone, starting this afternoon in what he terms a must-win game against Partick Thistle at Firhill.

The 22-year-old said: “We looked at the games coming up and we’ve targeted wins in all of them.

“If we want to be aiming higher up the league rather than being involved anywhere near the relegation area, we need to be aiming high.

“We want to be top six, so that has got to be the target. If we want that, the Partick game is a must-win one.

“The manager sets those targets and obviously we’ve let him down in the last couple of games.

“So we’re hoping to put things right starting on Saturday.

“After this weekend we’re not long until we’re into the likes of Celtic, Rangers and Hearts.

“We’ve played well against these kinds of teams already this season and had some good results.

“If we can just find that bit of form, it will give us the sort of momentum we need between now and the end of the season.

“I think mentally here the aim has always been to look up rather than down.”

Dundee beat Partick 3-0 the last time the sides met, in December at Dens, and O’hara is looking for more of the same today.

He added: “That was one of our best performances of the season. We’ll be aiming to replicate that.

“We really do need to start getting points on the board.

“It’s the business end of the season where we are looking to produce it on the park rather than just talking about it.

“Training since the Kilmarnock game has been brilliant. Everybody has been buzzing about.

“It’s not too down because we’re just waiting on something happening.

“It’s not as though we’re playing badly. We maybe just need a wee bit of luck.

“I have every faith that things will come right.”

O’hara admitted he was still scratching his head after the events at Rugby Park in midweek.

He added: “Even at half-time, we were all really pleased with how things were going.

“I don’t think we had played as well as that in a long time, the way we were knocking the ball about was fantastic.

“But as soon as they went down to 10 men things changed. I don’t know what happened.

“Their crowd got a lift and things started to change from there.

“So it’s really disappointing, but there’s no point dwelling on it as the games are coming thick and fast right now.

“We need to take the positives and move on to Saturday now at Firhill.

“It’s massive for us and hopefully we can emulate the first-half performance we produced at Rugby Park.

“I’ve not watched the full game back but I’ve seen bits of it.

“As the manager said, if we get into that position again against 10 men we can’t let it happen.

“We should have probably killed the game off earlier and been more ruthless.

“But it’s done now and we really just need to focus on Saturday.”

O’hara, who has scored six times for Dundee this season, is out of contract at the end of the campaign but is confident he will sign a new deal, adding: “We’re still in talks but hopefully we’ll resolve things soon.”

Mccann hopes defender Genseric Kusunga will be fit enough to face Partick Thistle.

The Angolan suffered a hamstring strain in the defeat to Kilmarnock but Mccann is optimistic he will recover in time to face Partick.

Josh Meekings could return after missing the Rugby Park defeat with a knock, but Julen Etxabeguren (shoulder), Marcus Haber and Matt Henvey (both knee) remain on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Miles Storey kickstarted Partick Thistle’s season with a late winner against Dundee in October and is hoping to provide another boost today.

The 24-year-old striker arrived at Maryhill last summer on a two-year deal from Aberdeen and went straight into a Ladbrokes Premiership struggle with the Jags.

He scored his first Thistle goal at home to Dundee in stoppage time to hand the Glasgow club their first league win of the season at the 10th time of asking.

That took them level on points with Kilmarnock, second-bottom at the time but now pushing for a top-six spot. Thistle too have improved but are still 10th, one point behind Dundee.

The visit of the Taysiders is followed by away games at bottom two Hamilton and Ross County.

Partick Thistle defender Paul Mcginn is suspended for the clash with Dundee.

Winger Steven Lawless returns to the squad after recovering from a foot knock, while Christie Elliott is on the mend following an ankle problem which has kept him out for six months, playing 45 minutes for the development team in midweek.

Gary Fraser is back training after recovering from a knee injury, but Stuart Bannigan (knee) remains out.

Picture: SNS. Mark O’hara is adamant Dundee will haul themselves clear of the danger zone, starting this afternoon in what he terms a must-win game against Partick Thistle at Firhill.