The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Holt relishes the intense competition for places at Dens Park
Former Europa League finalist Aurtenetxe keeps full-back on his toes
Since he joined Dundee in the summer of 2015, Kevin Holt has been a near ever present in the club’s starting line-up.
Despite that, he is definitely not taking his place in the side for granted – especially with fellow left-back Jon Aurtenetxe now at Dens.
The Spaniard has an impressive pedigree having played for Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League Final as well as two Copa del Reys.
Holt admits that while he has been impressed by Aurtenetxe, he is determined he will not be relinquishing his jersey any time soon and insists he is using the competition to drive him on.
The 24-year-old, who will be in Neil McCann’s squad once again for this afternoon’s Premiership clash with Hearts, said: “Jon obviously comes with a good pedigree. “His background makes great reading. “To be fair to him, he is still learning English and settling in a wee bit but you can see he is a good player with a lot of ability. He also has that aura about him that he has been at a big club so it is great for Dundee to be able to bring players like that in here.
“It is good for me to play alongside a lad like that and learn from him in training.
“Obviously, the Spanish game is different to the one in Scotland so any tips I can get, the better.
“I think I said when he first signed that competition is nothing to be scared of.
“If anything, it drives you on. Wherever you go, there is always going to be competition for places. It keeps you on your toes, at your best and should drive you forward. “And that’s what it has been doing.” Dundee have secured four points out of the last six on offer including one from last week’s draw at Kilmarnock.
Holt admitted the performance was below par at Rugby Park with the previous midweek’s exertions against Celtic in the Betfred Cup taking their toll.
Now, though he insists it will be full steam ahead once more against the Jambos.
Holt said: “We didn’t play at our best last weekend. The Kilmarnock game was our third in a week and we were maybe a bit tired.
“Wednesday night against Celtic was a tough game for us and while we started well at Kilmarnock you could see us just run out of gas towards the end and we were maybe holding on a bit for that point towards the end.
“However, with no midweek game this week, we have had a chance to get our legs back together. We are definitely refreshed and looking forward to the Hearts match.”
Dundee ended their long wait for a league win at Dens when they beat St Johnstone 3-2 a fortnight ago.
Now, Holt is determined they will
secure another three points at home against Craig Levein’s Hearts.
He said: “It is the same every season – if you want to be successful, you have to win as many of your home games as you can.
“So on the back of the St Johnstone game where we played well, we will look to carry that into this week in what is another winnable match.
“However, Hearts are a good team. I think they were that under Ian Cathro as well but it didn’t seem to work out for him. Hearts now already seem more stable and the players appear to have gone back to basics a wee bit.
“I have seen highlights of their last couple of games and they seem to be defending well.
“They might not have been at their best for the full 90 minutes but they are still getting results. They have some top players and are a good club so we will give them the respect they deserve.
“They finished in the top six last year in what was their first season back in the Premiership and will come here in confident mood.
“But while we will have to be wary of them, we are at home.
“We just have to look after ourselves and be confident enough to believe we can go and win the game.”
The Dark Blues welcome Sofien Moussa back into their squad following a knee injury. Another striker, Marcus Haber, could feature after an ankle problem, while Paul McGowan is back training after missing last weekend’s draw at Kilmarnock with a groin injury.
Jambos boss Levein expects Kyle Lafferty to start for Hearts despite opening up on his battles with gambling addiction this week.
The Northern Ireland striker has also had back and sickness issues recently, but Levein is confident the 30-year-old is in the right frame of mind to feature at Dens Park.
Midfielder Don Cowie’s tight hamstring will require monitorwing but Arnaud Djoum remains out with a knee injury.