Paul Hartley insists facing Dundee means no more to him than any other opponent.
The Cove Rangers boss took Dundee into the Premiership in 2014, after leaving Alloa Athletic mid-way through the season to help complete their promotion.
He was dismissed by the relegation-threatened Dark Blues in 2017 and replaced by Neil McCann. They would survive another season in the top flight before going down to the second tier in May.
Dundee head to the Balmoral Stadium tonight to face Cove in their second Betfred Cup game and while an intriguing test for his players, Hartley does not have any qualms about facing his former club.
He said: “It’s just another game in the cup for me. It’s not any more significant than Peterhead, Raith or Inverness. People see me as the former manager but we have all moved on since then.
“We just need a repeat performance of what we delivered on Saturday. There’s no big expectations on us in the Betfred Cup.”
James McPake replaced Jim McIntyre as Dundee manager in the summer and started his tenure with a 3-0 win over Raith Rovers at the weekend.
Hartley signed McPake for the Dens Park side and helped him in his first steps into coaching.
He added: “He helped out with the reserves and then the first team, so we gave him that first step. He’s been working there the last few years and got the opportunity now.
“He probably didn’t think it was going to happen so young into his career but good luck to him. He had a terrible time with injuries and had to announce his retirement, but we felt he had the leadership qualities and was always asking questions.
“He’s got good experience in there with Jimmy Nicholl, who I worked with at Falkirk, and he will need to lean on him.”
Hartley has a major doubt over striker Mitch Megginson, while Jamie Redman and Ryan Strachan will likely miss out. Daniel Park and Jamie Masson picked up knocks against Peterhead but should feature.