Determined Seun Adewumi knows the Scottish Cup is an opportunity to bring some long much-needed joy to the Dundee fans after a rather bruising week.
The Dark Blues have lost 6-0 consecutively against Hearts and Celtic and will be looking to turn their fortunes around when Airdrie make the trip to Dens Park. Tony Docherty’s side had been in good form up to this point, having drawn with Rangers and Celtic and beating their city rivals in the last round.
Adewumi’s Cup highlight was the 1-0 derby win against Dundee United and he would love to add another by helping Dundee into the quarter-finals. The 19-year-old admitted: “Yeah, of course, it is one of my cup highlights. Winning in the derby, it was really crazy. I really enjoyed it, yeah. It was really, really, really nice. Also, off the pitch, how the fans were so happy about the result. We were just trying to bring the fans some joy when we win games, so that’s the most important thing.
“Like every game, especially in the cup, when you win, you’ve just got to push harder the next round, until the final. That’s the most important thing in the cup, just to show more every game.”
The on loan Burnley player admitted that Docherty and his team have gone through the last two games. They have been tough watches but Adewumi reckons it will benefit their team in the long run.
The Austrian Under-21 cap stated: “So, of course, after the Celtic match and the game before against Hearts it was a little bit difficult, but we’re just trying to keep things positive and just go from game to game.”
“Of course, we analyse our mistakes, but we’re also trying to learn from them. So, from every mistake, we’re just trying to see the positive things and just trying to develop in training and just keep it positive. We’re also in the changing room, just the vibe and everything.
“I think all the players feel disappointed because we had a really good form before the Hearts game. Now we just need to keep it calm and just find our form again. That’s the most important thing.”
Adewumi has used to being the hunted rather than the hunted in cup competitions. His previous experiences have come in the Austrian Cup when he was playing for lower league Floridsdorfer.
“There is only one cup in Austria,” the attacker explained. “So, in the Scottish league it’s different. I know how Cup games are. They can sometimes be different. A lot of the time in Austria the teams from a lower division are often under-rated and that’s the biggest mistake you can make, especially in the cup.
“We played against First Division teams. The competition is always good. We played against LASK and lost 2-1 and we also played Wolfsburger and lost 3-2. We had a couple of close games and so I won’t be taking Airdrie lightly because they are in a lower league.
“Lower teams are often motivated to play against higher teams in the division, but we just got to see it as both teams being equal and just playing it like it’s a regular game.”
Dundee beat Airdrie 6-1 in the League Cup at the start of the season but Docherty expects a tougher challenge this time around. He said: “They are a good side. ‘They have picked up. They have a good young manager and a player as well in Rhys McCabe.
“They have an attractive style and they stick to it and are good at it. I know we played them earlier in the season but I am under no illusion that we need to be at our very best to progress in the cup.”