Mark McGhee has turned off his own radiators as he bids to help his Dundee side to turn up the heat on relegation rivals St Johnstone.
The experienced boss has tried to get into the psyche of his Dark Blues squad ahead of Saturday’s bottom-of-the-table clash.
McGhee knows it is a must-win game as he looks for the home win that would see Dundee move within two points of the second-bottom Saints.
He’s also made his own sacrifices this week and has told his players he will go on a diet and without heating this week in the build-up to the game.
McGhee admitted he’s already taken stick off his captain Charlie Adam but they are things he is willing to do without to get that all-important win he and his team have been starved of.
The Dundee boss said: “It requires no stone being left unturned because when the boys run out there on Saturday we need to be able to say we’ve done everything we can to help them get a result.
“I’m going to tell you something really silly. I was trying to make a point with this with Charlie on Monday and he ended up taking the mickey out of me.
“There are two things I’m doing this week to focus us on getting the win. The first thing, I’ve gone on a diet so I’m hungry all the time.
“I can then ask myself why am I hungry – and I am hungry because there is a big game on Saturday.
“The second thing I’m doing, and I’ve also told Charlie I am doing this, I won’t be using any heating. So I will be cold.
“I then ask myself why am I cold – and I can say because of the game on Saturday.
“It’s not the two things of being cold and hungry but it’s the principle of it because I am asking my own players to make this game as important in their own minds. I want them to focus on the game and this is what I am doing to make sure they are focused.”
Dundee haven’t won in the league since February and that was under former boss James McPake. McGhee confirmed they are trying everything on and off the park to turn around their fortunes.
He said: “For the rest of this week I will be on this strict diet and I won’t use the heating.
“When I get here on Saturday not only will I feel I’ve done everything but I’ll also be able to feel I’ve given everything.
“So I might feel more deserving of a good result. That’s the way the players need to think.
“We need the players to change – if they keep doing the same things as they have done it’s the Einstein adage that if you keep doing the same things and expect a different outcome then it is madness.
“You have to change something and this is what I’ve adopted as part of the process. Charlie says I’m off my head.”
McGhee knows this weekend is massive for his players but he added: “The way I always think about dealing with that is focusing and looking at the mechanics of it, your job. If you do that then it takes the pressure out of things.”
