Cove Rangers defender Scott Ross is expecting an entertaining contest at Dens Park tonight as Championship leaders Dundee host the basement side.
The Aberdeen outfit travel to Tayside for their penultimate league fixture sitting at the foot of the table, but are level on 30 points with Hamilton, who have played one game more than Paul Hartley’s men.
Following Cove’s win over Arbroath last weekend, the fight for Championship survival will go down to the final game of the season, irrespective of their result against Dundee.
A win at Dens would see Cove leapfrog Accies into ninth and level on 33 points with the eighth-placed Lichties, but that could be short-term, as the Angus outfit play Partick Thistle on Saturday.
At Dens, Ross knows it’s a game with a lot at stake for both sides.
A home win for Gary Bowyer’s side would see them move four points clear of second-placed Queen’s Park, ahead of the Spiders’ Saturday clash with Greenock Morton.
The Championship top-two face each other on the final day of the campaign.
Ross said: “It’s a massive game for both teams. Dundee need the win to almost secure the title and we need the win to try to secure our position in the Championship.
“It’s a game with a lot to play for. It’s probably what you want at this stage of the season, we’d rather be in a better position, but for the fans and neutrals, you want games to be meaningful right up until the end of the season.
“For us, it’s a game we’ve got to go into and frustrate Dundee to get the three points.”
Arbroath win has given Cove ‘great’ confidence
For the first time since February, Cove go into a match off the back of a win and Ross believes their victory at Gayfield has given them a much-needed boost ahead of their penultimate game of the season.
Ross said: “We’re under no illusion how difficult the game is going to be. Dundee are at the top of the table for a reason.
“They’ve been, so far, the best team in the league, and we’ve been one of the worst, so it’s going to be a massive task for us.
“But we know we’re capable of pulling off a result, we’ve beaten Dundee already this season.
“We go there with great confidence after the win over Arbroath last weekend, the boys are fighting right to the very end of games, so we’re just hoping we can put on a good performance against Dundee and pick up the three points.”
There were costs which came with Cove’s win at Arbroath, though, as Michael O’Halloran and Leighton McIntosh became the latest additions to the Aberdeen side’s injury list.
But Ross has backed his fit and available team-mates to give their all for Cove’s cause over the remaining two Championship clashes.
The defender said: “The boys that are available are all experienced players, it’s not going to be the case of young boys being thrown in at the deep end.
“We’ve been hit with a lot of injuries this year. Over the last month alone, we’ve had three or four boys out with season-ending injuries.
“We’ve been unlucky with that, but we know we’ve not performed at the levels that we know we can hit. It’s not a case of the injuries being what’s done our season, it’s a case of we’ve not performed well enough.
“But we’ve got two games left now to do all we can to keep ourselves in the league.”
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