Scott Tiffoney is confident in-form Dundee can adapt to life without Luke McCowan as they look to build on their promising start to the season.
The Dark Blues did not lose any of their nine matches in all competitions prior to the international break, getting themselves into the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup and the top six of the William Hill Premiership.
Attacker Tiffoney believes they can maintain that form as they prepare to return to action away to struggling Ross County on Saturday.
“As a squad, I feel we’re in a great place at the minute,” he said. “Momentum is a big thing in football so we can’t wait for the weekend.
“We’re undefeated so far and I feel our performances in each game have been really good so we’re looking to build on that. We’re quite a fresh squad at the minute, we’re still all getting to know each other and I think over the next few weeks we’ll get even better.”
Dundee lost talismanic midfielder McCowan when he was sold to Celtic on the eve of their last match against St Mirren, but Tiffoney feels they can evolve in his absence.
“Obviously Luke was a big character in our dressing-room but we’ve got plenty characters in there,” he said. “We just all need to step up now and hopefully replace him.
“Everybody needs to take that responsibility on their shoulders. Luke was a great player for us last season and into this season, and now it’s up to somebody else to step up and take his place.”
Tiffoney, who scored only three goals in the whole of last season, has had a bright start to the current campaign, netting in three of his last four matches.
“I feel like I’m in a great place at the minute and I just want to build on that and keep it going forward,” said the 26-year-old.
Tiffoney and his colleagues were delighted to see Dundee goalkeeper Jon McCracken called up to the Scotland squad for the first time last week ahead of their Nations League double-header against Poland and Portugal.
“Everyone at the club was buzzing when they found out Cracks got called up, and as a group we all look up to that,” he said. “It shows to anybody that if you’re performing week in, week out, then you never know what can happen.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country