Feelgood factor at Dens, says McGowan

Dundee midfielder Paul McGowan says there is a “feelgood factor” around Dens Park after a recent upturn in form.

After a slow start to the season, Neil McCann’s side have picked up wins over St Johnstone and Hearts before losing narrowly to Celtic last week.

The last two results in particular – a 2-1 victory over the Jambos and 1-0 loss at Celtic Park – have raised morale at the club and McGowan thinks the style of play McCann has tried to implement has been a big factor.

“There’s a feelgood factor about the place,” the midfielder said.

“You can see the boys want to play the right way, pass it and doing that at Celtic Park takes massive bravery because you know the fans will be on the edge of their seats.

“It’s the right way to play and it worked against Hearts and Celtic to a certain extent.”

McGowan said the squad takes added belief to Firhill following the last couple of games.

He said: “We go with the confidence from the last couple of games. It’s actually been enjoyable the way we’ve been trying to play against Hearts and Celtic.”

However with Thistle struggling in the league – they sit bottom and without a win so far – the 30-year-old warned against complacency and is expecting Alan Archibald’s side to come out firing.

“They’ll be coming right at us so it will make for a good game,” he said.

“They don’t want to lose every week, it’s not the nicest thing to train all week and then go out on a Saturday and get beaten, looking at the league table and seeing yourself at the bottom.

“They have enough in their squad to push on. Their results need to change but we need to make sure it’s not against us.

“If we don’t play anywhere near the level we’ve been playing, then we’ll struggle because it’s a tough place to go and they can hurt you.”

Meanwhile, Archibald’s injury woes have eased slightly ahead of the visit of Dundee.

Midfielder Stevie Lawless (sickness) and young forward Kevin Nisbet (concussion) are both back in contention for a start after missing last week’s defeat to Kilmarnock.

Gary Fraser stepped up his return from a serious knee injury with an hour-long appearance in an under-20s clash this week but long-term absentees Christie Elliott (ankle), Abdul Osman (shoulder), Callum Booth and Mustapha Dumbuya (both knee) remain on the sidelines.