IF every Dundee player were to demonstrate the same level of commitment and contribution shown by Andrew Nelson over the past month then they will give themselves a decent chance of staying up.
Since cutting ties with Sunderland – the club he joined as a seven year-old – the forward has thrown himself wholeheartedly into this latest challenge. Dundee are scrambling to distance themselves from relegation trouble and, with Nelson’s help, they are getting there bit by bit.
The 21 year-old’s goal in Saturday’s victory over Livingston was his fourth in six games and, combined with Scott Wright’s late winner, had the effect of lifting Dundee into 10th place in the table.
Nelson had been struggling with an injury that saw him sidelined for most of last week, and he would go on to exacerbate it during both his goal and the subsequent celebrations and had to be substituted. But there were no regrets.
“I took a knock to the shin earlier in the week and I've had shin splints,” he revealed. “It really flared up. But if I felt good enough to play then I was playing. I'm not the kind of person to hold out on a 50/50.
“I agitated the injury going for the header and then made it worse going for the celebration as well. The [artificial] turf hasn't any give in it so when you put your feet in it and try to push off it's going to hurt. But it should just take a couple of days to settle down. That’s what I’m hoping.”
Nelson retains an almost childlike enthusiasm for playing that explains the exuberant goal celebrations.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be a professional footballer and make a living in the game,” he added. “This is only the beginning. That’s why you celebrate a goal. It feels so overwhelming to make a contribution after being held back by injuries and missing out on certain opportunities. There’s no better feeling. It’s magical. I can’t contain myself when I score.”
In contrast, there was only frustration within the Livingston camp, both at having lost the game and with the decision not to award them a late penalty and instead book Steven Lawless for diving.
“‘There was 100 per cent contact there,” said Lawless. “He brought me down. I think the referee was the only person in the stadium who thought it was a dive.”
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