Joe Shaughnessy adamant Dundee losing basement battle with St Johnstone will be no catastrophe as he paints relegation picture

The defender knows Saturday's clash with St Johnstone is big but insists it won't be the be-all-and-end-all to their season

Joe Shaughnessy will be doing everything to avoid it but doesn’t think it would be catastrophic if Dundee were to lose their basement battle with St Johnstone.

The bottom two clash at Dens Park, with the Perth side looking to draw level with their relegation rivals with an away win. Shaughnessy is desperate to end Dundee’s recent winless run but has insisted it isn’t do or die because there are still another nine games left after this one. The captain said: "There are a lot of games left in the season.

“It is not like you are dead bottom by 10 points, it is three points available tomorrow and then we go again. It is not catastrophic but it is a big game and we are well aware that we don’t want to be getting beat. Different teams have been bottom of the league but they then go on a run of games. “Look at Hibs now, they are flying.

“The league is very close and it is not as if one team has been cast adrift at the bottom. I think that will be the case for the rest of the season and we want to make sure that is not us at the end of the season.”

The comeback defender admitted the focus has been on trying to get Dundee’s season back on track. That means getting back to basics. Shaughnessy stated: “It was going to be a big game, regardless of the result the other night. We were well aware before these three games how big they were.

“It is important for us to turn round the form we have had. We’ve had some poor results lately and we’ve been dragged down into that battle. We are well aware that we need to turn it around at some point and tomorrow would be a good start.

“We’ve probably not done the basics well enough, as a collective. As defenders we’ve given away poor goals and that is something we need to address. As a collective we need to address that, do the basics and our jobs and then hopefully it comes together.”

Shaughnessy is in no doubt his young squad has the mental toughness and the ability on the park to dig themselves out of trouble. “I am fully confident that the players we have in the dressing room are well able for it,” he insisted. “We are up for the fight and we’ve shown we can get results.

“It is about putting a performance together and showing how it means to all of us to get us out of the situation that we’ve put ourselves in. Nobody is coming in to save us now. It is us now.

“It is one of those, you lay down and let it happen or you get up and fight. I am confident the boys are up for that fight.”

Saints looked down and out but have reeled others back and Shaughnessy believes they deserve credit. He acknowledged: “They’ve shown a bit of fight. They seemed pretty confident even when they were down the bottom.

“They were still passing it well and playing good possession football. It is impressive what they have done but we want to go out there and we are at home and we want to put our own stamp on the game.”

Manager Tony Docherty has also played down the importance of a win. He said: “Yes, it is a big game but they are all big games at this stage in the season.

“I wouldn’t put any more emphasis on this than any other one. When I looked at the fixtures at the start of the season I knew this would be a big week and hopefully we can end it on a high.”