Zak Rudden insists 'no risk' in Dundee move as former club Partick Thistle push for promotion

Having swapped Partick Thistle for Dundee in pursuit of top flight football, Zak Rudden may already have cause to cast a wry glance at both the Premiership and Championship league tables.

While the team he has just signed for slipped into the automatic relegation spot on Tuesday night with a 0-0 derby draw at home to Dundee United, the club he left strengthened their bid for promotion as they beat Ayr United 1-0.

But the prospect of Dundee and Thistle trading places at the end of the season isn’t one Rudden will spend much time ruminating over.

The Scotland under-21 international has no regrets over his decision to sign a pre-contract agreement with Dundee which ultimately saw his move from Thistle advanced on transfer deadline-day.

“I am here because I want to take the next step, I didn’t want to wait about and not know what would happen in the last six months (of my contract) if I’d stayed with Thistle,” said Rudden.

“So I took the chance to come to the Premiership now and it’s good to get going. It’s always a bit confusing when you’re in that position and having signed the pre-contract I wanted to get here as soon as possible. It took a while to get it sorted but I am delighted to be here now.

“I owe a lot to Thistle manager Ian McCall, he gave me my start again and got me up and running after I’d been injured.

“I didn’t score for Thistle for a while but he kept me, he trusted me and I have to thank him for that. He’s a big part of the reason I’m here now

“So I was always giving my all when I was at Partick and you never know, they might come up and I will be playing against them next season.”

Rudden had been a long time target of Dundee manager James McPake who first noticed his potential when he played against him.