Trevor Carson: Dundee must seize 'massive opportunity' to secure Premiership status

The Courier

14-05-2025

Trevor Carson is determined Dundee will take full advantage of a golden opportunity to secure their Premiership status against Ross County.
The Dark Blues are currently sitting in 10th place in the table, two points ahead of the struggling Staggies, and know a win tonight would ensure they will be playing top-tier football again next season.
Keeper Carson admits everyone at Dundee would have grabbed that chance with both hands when they were sitting in the relegation play-off spot last month.
A victory at Hearts in the first post-split game changed everything and now the Northern Irishman is looking to rubber-stamp Dundee's safety against County.
Carson said: 'I think at the start of the split, when we were sitting in 11th place, if someone had shown us the table and said you've got a home game against Ross County to secure your status, I think everyone would have taken that.
'It's a massive opportunity for us. As I say, when you go into the split and you're in that 11th position, the jeopardy that comes with it, you're chasing a bit.
'I think we're in a strong position to go and secure our status. We've got to feed off that, go and deliver.
'In this sort of relegation fight, nothing can motivate me more than winning the next game of football.
'There's no inspirational videos I could watch. I'm just desperate to win the next game of football. That's my mindset all the time.
'There's obviously extra responsibilities on it because you don't want to be part of the team that goes out of the league.
'This situation wasn't what was set out at the start of the season. It certainly wasn't our goal.
'But it's the situation we're in now. It's up to me to stand up and hopefully be part of the team that gets us out of it.'
Carson has experienced the pain of relegation before at Bury and Cheltenham Town and he is fully aware of the dire consequences of the dreaded drop.
However, the 37-year-old insists that doomsday scenario hasn't entered his thoughts.
Carson added: 'I don't want to get bogged down on it, thinking negatively about stuff like that.
'Of course, there's repercussions, not just for players, but for staff around the place.
'We've got a great set of staff here, from the office staff to the playing staff. You don't want that on your shoulders, people losing their jobs.
'But it hasn't crossed our minds, that sort of stuff. We know it's in our hands to get us out of this situation. We know we've got enough to do, but this talk's all cheap.
'We'll have to go out and perform. Thankfully, it's in our hands.'
That sentiment was echoed by Carson's boss Tony Docherty.
The manager said: 'We're in control of the situation as a result of us winning at Tynecastle.
'Before that, we were in that position waiting for teams to slip up.
'We've now got a great opportunity, we've got control.
'There's no worse feeling than when you need to rely on other results.
'We don't – we need to turn up, put on a performance that's worthy of us winning the match.'
Docherty also acknowledged that the Dundee fans have an important role to play and he is looking for them to roar his team over the line to safety.
He added: 'The fans can have a huge part to play and that's the biggest message I have.
'I thought they were brilliant on Saturday after the Kilmarnock game, I think they'd seen a team giving absolutely everything.
'They are the 12th man, there's no doubt about it, and if they can help us for 90-plus minutes on Wednesday night to secure our top-flight status for next year, it benefits us all.
'So I would really urge them to get behind the team.'
Dundee will be without the injured Jordan McGhee and Ethan Ingram.