Derby to top U21s debut for Dee star

Dens Park whizzkid Max Anderson is set to enjoy two firsts in his fledgling football career. Last week he earned his Scotland under-21 debut after continuing his impressive form for Dundee.

And this weekend he is set to play his first-ever Dundee derby as the Dark Blues head to Tannadice on Sunday.

After the 10-day trip to Turkey, Anderson plans to put some tips he picked up on international duty to good use for his club.

In Bursa, Anderson replaced Hibs striker James Scott with 13 minutes to play shortly after the Turks had made it 1-1.

At the weekend, under-21 boss Scot Gemmill was at Dens to watch Anderson and Livingston’s Ben Williamson face off in the middle of the park.

And Anderson is determined to do everything he can for Dundee to impress Gemmill enough for a second call-up.

“It was a brilliant experience and I really enjoyed it,” Anderson told The Courier.

“I was a bit anxious beforehand with the change of scenery, change of boys but I really enjoyed it.

“I’d only known the players for a week and then to play a big game was different. It’s a really good squad as well.

“We played a closed-door game against Wales before the Turkey game, I played 60 minutes of that and felt good. Then the Turkey game was a good result for us, they are a top side.”

He added: “Training with Scot Gemmill and the rest of the boys was really good, just adding bits to your game to bring back to Dundee is really enjoyable. It was all positive and hopefully I can get picked again.

“I’ll do as much as I can every game for Dundee and see what happens.”

The next chance to impress comes this Sunday in a mouth-watering derby at Tannadice.

It will be Anderson’s first taste of a derby as a player, though he’s keen to ignore all the hype around the contest.

He may be a lifelong Dundee fan but the youngster insists he won’t be treating Sunday’s clash differently to any other league match.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m trying to think of it as just another game, that’s all it is really,” he added.

“Don’t change what you do – that’s the way I’m looking at it.”