| Even the fact the opposition will be minus half a team does not persuade the man who skippered the Dark Blues, and managed Dundee United, to accept his side should be on course for a Scottish Cup semi-final place.
“We have been playing well and have a bit of confidence just now, but this is a cup quarter-final and to me that makes it like a derby,” he said.
“It’s a one-off, the adrenalin will be flowing and it is going to come down to which team performs on the day.
“Our form has been good since December, but Dundee have run into form as well and I am not looking at the fact we have won the last two games against them as significant.
“Do that and you risk getting complacent. Both games were very tight and could have gone either way, so we know this is a hard tie.”
Equally, Gordon takes no extra confidence from the lengthy absentee list at Dens and feels the players Alex Rae can bring in will be just as dangerous as the ones who are missing out.
“Dundee still have decent players at their disposal and the ones who get their chance will want to show Alex they should be in the team every week.”
There is no hiding, though, that the ex-defender’s feeling is that his team has what it takes to reach the semis.
“I have to say that we have a great team spirit here and the boys have been working very hard for their results.
“What we’ve managed to do down here at Palmerston is make it a place where teams don’t look forward to going.
“We might not play well every game, but if anyone gets a result here, they know they’ve had to work hard for it.”
Tomorrow’s tie has become the battle of the First Division Managers of the Month. The award for February has been awarded jointly to Alex Rae and Gordon Chisholm. |
