Dundee are hoping to go level on points with fourth-placed Ross County in the Premiership tonight with a win over St Johnstone. However, assistant manager Gerry McCabe insists they are still not safe from the drop. With 14 games left, the Dark Blues are in sixth place, 17 points ahead of neighbours Dundee United, who occupy bottom spot, and six ahead of Kilmarnock, who are in the relegation play-off spot and have played a game more than Paul Hartley's men. However, despite that encouraging position, and one defeat in their last six games, McCabe has not stopped looking over his shoulder.
Speaking to Press Association Sport he said: "No, certainly not. Things can change that quickly. Look at Ross County last year and the run they went on, a great run, which got them out of it. We just look at the next game and try to get the three points and if it jumps you a place or two then great. But everybody is vying for the same points and I don't think anybody from fourth or fifth downwards will be thinking they are safe just now. There is a long way to go. Maybe round about April, if we are sitting in that position, we can say 'that's it', because that's the way this league is."
St Johnstone have not won in over two months, their last three points coming in a 3-2 win in Dingwall against Ross County on 5 December. However, McCabe remains wary of the threat from their Tayside neighbours, who lost 4-3 against title challengers Aberdeen last Saturday. He said: "Tommy Wright has a well-organised team, with experience and youth. He has hit a wee dip just now but they will be looking to bounce back. They scored three against Aberdeen on Saturday, so they know they are capable of scoring goals. Obviously they have lost one of their best players in Michael O'Halloran (to Rangers) which will be a loss to them. It is how they respond to that but we know we will be in for a difficult game. We have played them twice, beat them and drawn with them. They will come and try to kick-start their season again but at the same time we are looking to get the points to keep us in the top six."
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright insists his side remain in "a good position" despite their winless run. He said: "The performances have been good, I am happy with them. At the minute we are on a run where every little thing can go against you. Even looking back at the Aberdeen game last week - a couple of deflections in their goals. Obviously, we have contributed with poor mistakes and we have made mistakes in bad times in games and got punished for it. But we are sitting fifth in the league. If we win tomorrow night we go above Ross County with a game in hand over them. So we are in a good position but we know that to get top six we have to get better results than we have had recently."
Wright believes cutting out errors is what his side need to do to get their season back on track. He said: "No team has overrun us, no team has outplayed us and the shape of the team has been good. But we have made individual errors which have cost us and cost us going back to the start of the season. In the good run we had we weren't making those errors and that is what we have to do, cut them out. It is a big game for both sides. It is a derby game and we can open up a bit of a gap over Dundee and get over Ross County, while Dundee can get above us if they win. The games against Dundee have been pretty tight so I expect something similar."