Aberdeen attacker Niall McGinn will be hoping to continue his goalscoring form against Dundee when the Dons travel to Dens Park today.
The Northern Ireland international has scored six goals in four appearances for the Dons against the Dark Blues and, having returned to first-team action against St Mirren on Tuesday, McGinn is eager to continue where he left off in the 2012-13 season against Dundee.
He said: “I got my first career hat-trick at Dens Park and I’ve always enjoyed playing against Dundee and have scored a lot of goals against them.
“You always look forward to derbies and to have Dundee back in the top league is great. It’s the big games with big atmospheres that you want to be involved in, none more so than this one.
“I was involved in a few of those games when I first came to Pittodrie and the atmosphere was brilliant.”
The Dons have hit the goal trail in the last four matches, scoring 12 times, although the focus fell on the defence after Derek McInnes’ side surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with St Mirren.
While disappointed not to win in midweek, McGinn is pleased with the form of his team. He said: “Looking back at the four games, attacking-wise the players were fantastic. We created a lot of chances.
“Yes, it was disappointing to go two goals up against St Mirren then allow them back into the game when we should have been seeing it out. It gave them a lift to go on and get something out of the game.
“But there were a lot of positives for us. We made a lot of chances and their goalkeeper must have made about 10 saves. It’s different if you’re creating chances and not scoring goals, but we are.”
The Dons face a Dundee side bidding to stop the rot after three straight defeats in the league and League Cup but McGinn knows Dark Blues manager Paul Hartley will have his players fired up for the visit of his former club.
He said: “The last two or three games haven’t been great for Dundee but most of the season they’ve been playing very well and their manager has made some great signings.
“He’s young and enthusiastic. He has shown how good a manager he can be and the players he has brought together have clicked.
“We know it’ll be a tough game and we know the Aberdeen supporters will come in numbers. So, it’s up to us to do the damage on the pitch. “