With the view of putting as much space between themselves and the struggling Scottish Premiership sides, Dundee will welcome Rangers to Kilmac Stadium on Thursday evening.
The hosts place eighth with 25 points from 21 matches, though only two points away from Hearts, 11th, while the visitors place second with 40 points from 20 matches.
Dundee returned to the top tier of Scottish football after claiming the Scottish Championship crown in the 2022-23 season, and after an impressive return to the Premiership in the next season, the Dee will find themselves in a tough time in the first half of this campaign following their sixth-place finish.
The current coach Tony Docherty took the position in May 2023 and the team achieved only seven victories, four draws and ten losses in the first 21 games of the season; the team is taking the eighth position with 25 points.
Those standings suggest that Dundee are in the thick of the fight for the drop in the Scottish Premiership, sitting four points above the Hearts of the 11th place but with one game fewer to their name than the teams below them.
But with the two teams lying only a couple of points apart at the bottom, a win here could surprisingly lift Dundee to within a point of the top six based on other outcomes.
Their last three performances are somewhat better: the Dee won two of their last three games and each victory should provide them a good morale boost but the match against second-placed Rangers may be rather tough.
The Gers faced some initial frustration in the season with poor performances leading to increased pressure on the club’s manager Philippe Clement but the recent performances have down the pressure.
They were dumped out of the Scottish League Cup after a dramatic win on penalties to Celtic after Rangers had remained unbeaten in their subsequent nine matches following their 1-0 loss to Aberdeen at the start of October.
They have now drawn two and won one of their last three games, including an incredible 3-0 victory over Celtic in the league, then recovering with a 1-0 victory over Thursday's opponents in the rematch before suffering a lackluster loss to St Mirren.
The Gers, who will be eager to win today after blowing a two-goal lead against Hibernian in their last game and drawing 3-3, will be a little dissatisfied.
In recent years, Rangers have dominated this matchup, being undefeated against Dundee in their last 15 matches across all competitions, winning 13 of them.
Due to persistent injury concerns, Dundee will be missing Ziyad Larkeche (hamstring), Scott Fraser (groin), and Joe Shaughnessy (knee); however, all three should be back later this month.
Docherty may decide to start a similar lineup for this game, with goal scorers Simon Murray and Sebastian Palmer-Houlden probably starting after they defeated St Johnstone 3-1 in their last game.
The striker is anticipated to maintain his spot in the starting lineup ahead of Cyriel Dessers after scoring a hat-trick in the most recent 3-3 draw with Hibernian.
