Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley will offer no apologies if his side win ugly to secure their Championship status tomorrow.
The point gained at Dens Park was enough to put Cove’s survival hopes in their own hands as they moved above Hamilton Accies heading into the final round of fixtures tomorrow.
Cove had dug deep to take four points from their last two games and Hartley will happily accept winning ugly again.
He said: “The last two games have not been pretty but I didn’t expect them to be. We’ve tried to make it a wee bit ugly in getting points on the board.
“But the two clean sheets have been the biggest thing for me. We didn’t create a lot last week (at Dundee) but we knew that would be the game plan.
“People can say what they want, it’s not a beauty contest and I’m not here to please anybody.
“The aim is to try to get a result and you have to find a way as a manager sometimes with the players you have available.”
Events elsewhere will be impossible to ignore
Every game matters in the final round of fixtures as the title, play-off places and relegation issues are still not resolved.
With Accies at third-bottom Arbroath, Cove could yet secure automatic survival and Hartley knows it will be impossible to ignore events away from Balmoral Stadium tomorrow.
He said: “Whatever happens in the other game, I’m sure people will let us know, that’s for sure.
“We’ll have someone with the radio in the dugout with the big aerial. Remember when they used to do that?
“Listen, we’re not daft. People will have their phones. That doesn’t bother me.
“We have to make sure we try to get the right result. Morton are going for the play-offs, everybody else apart from one team in the league has something to play for.
“The Championship is so interesting but we have to try to do our business first against a good opponent.
“That’s all we can do. If it goes alright for us we’ll be delighted.
“If it’s the play-off we still have opportunity but obviously there is the other side of things too.
“We can only do our own business on Friday.”
‘Championship finale is incredible’
Hartley is not surprised to see all the important issues in the division go to the wire but he did not expect nine out of the 10 clubs to have something at stake on the final day.
Tension is going to be high at all five matches but the Cove boss has been keeping preparations low-key ahead of the big finale.
He said: “There are teams trying to win the league, teams trying to get in the play-offs and then the fight at the bottom.
“But to have nine teams with something at stake on the final day in the Championship is incredible.
“I’ve tried to keep a low profile, keep quiet, and not say too much to the players. There’s not a lot of talking to be done, we have to do it out there.
“That’s what we’ve tried to do in the last couple of weeks. Keep the players nice and calm, don’t get too uptight, and see where it takes us.
“We’ve given ourselves a wee chance.
“Three or four weeks ago we were probably well out of it and rock bottom but we’ve managed to get a few results, put some points on the board and make it interesting for Friday.
“We’ve got to manage the game. We’ve got to be a wee bit cautious as we want to stay in the game.
“There’s no point taking ourselves right out the game by losing a couple of early goals and being left up against it.
“We’ve got to stay in the game then try to open up when the chance comes.”
Striker Leighton McIntosh and winger Jackson Longridge both face late fitness tests.
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