Dundee manager Paul Hartley is looking forward to night to remember when his team welcome Dundee United on Wednesday to Dens Park. Although Dundee have not beaten their Tannadice Street neighbours since November 2004, Hartley’s side go into the game having lost just one of their last 11 Scottish Premier League games. And Hartley is confident the live coverage audience will be given a treat in the third clash between the teams this season. He said: "I'm looking forward to it, excited - it should be a great atmosphere. We’re in good form, so it has got the makings of a cracking game. We’ve been disappointing over the last few derbies. It’s something we want to try and put right. We know we’re up against a very good Dundee United team. I think when you go into these games the form sort of goes out the window, so we need to be ready, get the preparation spot on, and hopefully we can get a good result."
The Dark Blues will be desperate to avenge their 6-2 hammering at Tannadice on New Year’s Day, which was their second heavy defeat to United this season with the visitors winning 4-1 on their last visit to Dens Park. But their city rivals cross the road on the back of a recent downturn in fortunes. United have not won any of their last nine games, including four consecutive defeats to Celtic. But Hartley insists the timing of the latest derby match does not favour his side any more than their opponents.
He said: "No, I wouldn’t say that. I wouldn’t say so in a derby game. I think form goes out of the window. It doesn’t matter if you are in good form or bad form. It’s about on the day, and it’s about the players, and hopefully they can perform well. I think we’re in better form than the turn of the year when we got a bad defeat down there, so our form has been pretty good, I think we’ve got about two defeats in 12. We want to do well for ourselves tomorrow night and for the supporters, so it has the making of a cracking game. It should be a full-house, the atmosphere should be electric, and it’s one that we can’t wait for."
Dundee have three games before the league split, and a win over United would enhance the chances of Hartley’s side secure a top-six finish. The Dundee manager sees no reason why the Dark Blues will not be able to clinch a spot with the best in Scotland. Hartley said: "I think it’s game on. We are two points off the top six. It’s something we want to achieve and try and get into. If you had said at the start of the season, 'you have three games to try and get into the top six', I think we’d have taken that. We’re not too far away, but we need to get some points on the board over the next three games."