Ex-striker says Dark Blues will need a miracle

DUNDEE are in need of a 21st Century miracle if they are to extend their Premiership stay beyond a single season.

To survive the relegation battle, the Dark Blues now need something approaching a perfect finish to the campaign.

Four matches left and players have admitted they need to win all four to stay up.

That, though, hasn’t happened for any Dundee team this century.

The last time a Dens Park side won four top-flight matches on the bounce was back in 1999, as Jocky Scott led the side to a fifthplace finish.

Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Aberdeen and Dunfermline were all seen off in the spring of ’99.

Finishing top scorer that season was striker Eddie Annand, ahead of the likes of James Grady, Willie Falconer and Tommy Coyne.

Though he admits the current Dundee side face a huge task to get out of trouble, Annand says there is still a chance, even if it is a slim one.

On winning four wins on the spin, Annand said: “That record has stood for a long time, which shows just how hard the Premiership is.

“I remember talking about how long it took Steven Gerrard to win four games in a row with Rangers, which tells you hard that is to do.

“For Dundee, to stay in this league they really have to have won more than five games.

“The only way they will stay up is to add to that.

“I think looking back, they weren’t ready to come up.

“I watched the play-off final last season and it’s maybe been too big of a step.

“They signed Leigh Griffiths and all the baggage that came with that didn’t help the club.

“I thought Jason Cummings would kick on myself, but that didn’t happen.”

The Dark Blues also made a change in the dugout in February, sacking James McPake and bringing in a more experienced manager in Mark McGhee.

Annand experienced a bit of that at Dens, playing for John McCormack before Jocky Scott came in and then leaving as Ivano Bonetti took over.

The former Clyde and Ayr United man says this season’s