Gavin Rae at Dundee for third spell

GAVIN Rae helped Aberdeen dump Dundee back into the First Division, but now he’s aiming to seal them a quick-fire return to the SPL.

Rae arrived back at Dens Park yesterday for his third stint with the Dark Blues just weeks after he played for the Dons in their 1-1 draw on Tayside which ended Dundee’s bid to stay up.

Rae admits it was an emotional roller-coaster that day which saw Dundee make the dreaded drop back down but, after putting pen to paper with the First Division promotion hopefuls, the 35-year-old insists he’d like nothing better than to lead them back into the start-studded top-flight. Rae, who has also landed a coaching role with the youths, said: “That would be something else. It was a strange days here towards the end of last season when Dundee got relegated and the circumstances surrounding it. It obviously happens over the course of the season but I couldn’t help but feel for them that day.

“I had mixed emotions obviously. Dundee are a team whom I’ve got a great affinity with and you had to feel for the players and the fans. They had fought so hard to stay up but it wasn’t to be.

“Now, though, it would be a real fairytale if I was to return and then go and help the lads get promotion back to the SPL.

“That has got to be the aim. The gaffer is putting together a good squad with the aim of winning the league. I don’t see any reason why we can’t be up there challenging and hopefully it will all have a happy ending next summer.”