Dundee's Gary Bowyer: 'Wonderful way' to conclude Scottish Championship season
- Published
Gary Bowyer is in his first season managing in Scottish football
Scottish Championship: Queen's Park v Dundee |
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Venue: Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Date: Friday, 5 May Kick-off: 19:45 BST |
Coverage: Watch on BBC Scotland, listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
Dundee manager Gary Bowyer says Friday's Scottish Championship title decider against Queen's Park is "a wonderful way" for the league's season to finish.
The Dark Blues will return to the top flight 12 months after relegation should they win or draw at their rivals' temporary home, Ochilview Park.
Lose and Dundee will face two play-off stages if they are to win promotion.
"I have really enjoyed it," Bowyer said of his first season in Scotland.
"It's been fascinating and a real eye-opener in terms of how tight it has been. The coaching side, the managers have all been well organised and they have all been very competitive."
Bowyer and assistant Billy Barr were appointed a month after being sacked by Salford City last May and the manager admits they were "learning as we went along" because of their "inexperience" of Scottish football.
Dundee began the season as title favourites, but Bowyer insists that any "expectancy" has come from the fans and not him and his players as he repeated his mantra of taking each game in isolation right up to Friday's decider.
"It's just another game in terms of the process and the preparation, but obviously the outcome of this game decides what happens in the league and hopefully we can have one more good memory and experience on Friday," he said.
"It can all change drastically over that 90 minutes, but we just have to concentrate on ourselves and our attitude to go and embrace the evening."
Bowyer admitted Dundee's location had made player recruitment a challenge, but he suggested "the fitness of the players is the big one" when assessing why his side are on the brink of the title.
Dundee are unbeaten in all four meetings with Queen's Park this season, three in the league.
"You can take one or two bits away from previous games, but this is the one we must focus on," Bowyer added. "We find ourselves if we win the game or draw the game then we have achieved what we set out at the beginning of the season, but we know there is a lot of work to go into it before that."