Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Why star’s midfield masterclass was 15 years in the making
THE harder you work, the luckier you get.
It is a mantra Kevin Holt is desperate to see come to fruition after witnessing Ross Docherty’s tireless efforts to regain full fitness.
Docherty made his first competitive appearance of the campaign against St Mirren last Sunday after shaking off a calf complaint, adding composure and combativeness to the engine room in the final 15 minutes of a 1-0 victory.
Holt, a team-mate of Docherty for the past three years with United and Partick Thistle, hopes it is the first of many for the Tannadice club captain, who has recently moved to Dundee in a bid to cut down travel time.
“It was huge to have Doc back,” Holt told Tele Sport. “I spoke to him before the game about it, and I’ve been playing alongside him for a few years now. I was delighted to see him back in the squad.
“Hopefully he can get his body right and get a good run at it. He is doing everything he can to get back. People should see how hard he is working – I see it every single day in training, and off the pitch as well.
“I can’t praise him highly enough for his professionalism and how he goes about his business. He is club captain for a reason, and a role model for all the boys.
“He’s been so unlucky picking up those wee knocks and muscle injuries; there’s nothing he could do about it. But I know he’s doing everything he can to make sure he’s available for the gaffer to pick every week.”
However, with Docherty and Richard Odada both only ready for a place on the bench against the Buddies, and Vicko Sevelj suspended, Holt was handed the task of playing in holding midfield against the Buddies.
And he rose to the challenge, with boss Jim Goodwin describing his display as “outstanding” as Holt rolled back the years to his days in the Queen of the South youth ranks.
A place in the SPFL team of the week followed.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played midfield for a first team,” said Holt. “You need to go back to when I was 16 and coming through the youth team at Queen of the South. That was actually my position when I was coming through.
“But I got my chance for Queens because the leftback was unavailable and I just never moved back.
“Neil Scally, who was later my assistant at Partick Thistle, was my U19s coach at Queen of the South and he was a central midfielder, so I picked up loads from watching him.
“Sunday was something a bit different for me and, although it’s been a long time since I played in there, I really enjoyed it.”
Victory over St Mirren continued a solid start to the season for the newly promoted Tangerines.
A place in the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup and draws against Dundee and Ross County have provided cause for optimism.
But Holt confesses to a sense of frustration at their points total, having led three times in their two Premiership games. He is determined to put that right with the visit of St Johnstone.
“It’s an unbeaten start in the league but we feel like we should have more points than we do,” added Holt.
“We know how tough a test St Johnstone will be, and we need to focus right.”