Dara hoping for rub of the green against Rangers

Irishman looks to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a win

DARA Costelloe admits it would be the best St Patrick’s Day present ever for him if Dundee can beat Rangers at Dens tomorrow.

The Republic of Ireland Under21 international joined the Dark Blues on loan from Burnley at the start of January after spending the first half of the season farmed out to St Johnstone.

Costelloe was recalled to the Dundee starting line-up on Wednesday night and helped Tony Docherty’s side beat Aberdeen to move back into the top six.

Now, he is hoping Irish eyes will be smiling on St Patrick’s Day and Dundee can make it two wins in a row by defeating the Glasgow giants.

Costelloe admitted: “A win against them on Sunday would be some present for me.

“Beating Rangers on St Patrick’s Day, I couldn’t think of anything better. It would be brilliant, I’d be straight on it afterwards.

“My dad Dave is coming over for the game. Everyone else is staying at home for Paddy’s Day, and I don’t blame them, to be fair.”

However, Costelloe knows just how tough it will be to realise his dream. He played against Rangers for St Johnstone while Dundee have already lost twice to the Glasgow giants this season, conceding eight goals in the process.

He added: “One of Dundee’s objectives at the start of the season was to get results off the Old Firm.

“I think that’s been the one thing we’ve been missing a bit.

“We’re definitely good enough to get something out of it. We’re a good team and we just need to stick together.

“One thing I’ve learned is to just not over-respect them. Everyone is the same, we’ve all got two arms and two legs.

“We really need to get after them early on and show we’re not just another game for them to win. We’re going to take the game to them.”

Dundee are determined to finish the season on a high by securing a top-six finish.

Costelloe understands just how big an achievement that would be for a team that came up from the Championship last year.

However, he confessed that the whole “top six” concept had to be explained to him when he first arrived in Scotland.

He said: “I hadn’t a clue what was going on with the top six when I came up here.

“It’s a weird way how they work it up here in the league.

“I realise what it means now, so we just need to keep pushing, and stay in there.

“It’s a very progressive club here and for us to continue on that path, we need to finish in the top six to keep developing.

“It would be huge for the club, especially with the big funds and resources that come with it. That would help us really kick on.”

Meanwhile, Tony Docherty has revealed that Josh Mulligan will be sidelined for at least a month.

The Scotland Under-21 midfielder missed Wednesday night’s win over Aberdeen with a hamstring problem.

Mulligan was sent for a scan with the results confirming there is a tear, which is another big blow for Docherty who is once again contemplating a lengthy injury list ahead of the clash with Rangers.

The 53-year-old said: “Josh Mulligan has had his scan results back and he has a hamstring tear.

“He could be out for four to six weeks.

“It is a big blow for Josh and for us as well.”

Docherty is now sweating on the results of another scan to on-loan Liverpool full-back Owen Beck who also missed the game against the Dons.

The manager added: “Owen is getting his groin scanned at the moment and we are waiting to see what the results of that are.

“He is not ruled out for the weekend yet but it is something we need to get to the bottom of.

“He still has a chance of playing on Sunday but it is something we need to be aware of.

“Trevor Carson won’t be available as he is still struggling with his knee.

“Jordan McGhee is making good progress with his calf and he should be back after the international break as will Zach Robinson, Ryan Howley and Diego Pineda but Lee Ashcroft is obviously still out with his hamstring.”

Josh Mulligan will be sidelined for at least a month through injury.