Where Dundee might look to strengthen in the January transfer window

One thing unites Scottish football fans regardless of the colours of their scarves; if any given weekend features Derek Adams throwing the sort of almighty huff normally reserved for toddlers, then it's been a good one.

If it's your team that scrambled in the last-minute winner that's set him off, even better.

Too many column inches will be dedicated to Adams' diatribe about his own team, the quality of Scottish football and the spectacle offered up by both sides up in Dingwall on Saturday, but his tear-stained smokescreen shouldn't mask the importance of the result for Dundee.

So far this season, we've agonisingly dropped 2 points at the death in away games against St Johnstone and Motherwell despite dominating both ties. In both cases, some poor game management contributed to our capitulation at the death, and with the league looking so tight there was a risk that these games would play an outsized role in the story and vibe of our season.

While, contrary to the claims of the County manager, Dundee were edging the match on every conceivable statistical basis, it felt like a draw in Dingwall would be a fair result, but you'll find nobody in dark blue complaining about a little bit of luck going our way.

Joe Shaughnessy didn't know too much about his goal, but his outstretched chest bundling a miscued clearance from Alex Samuel sparked scenes of absolute bedlam in the away end. No wonder Derek Adams was in such a bad mood; it was the type of goal you hate to concede, and with County looking at a run of Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs before the winter break, it marked the end of the honeymoon for Malky's replacement.

For us, though, our late winner transforms the outlook of our December run-in. At kick-off on Saturday, we were just three points off eleventh and conceivably about to get sucked into the basement battle. Victory has left us in a wee island in seventh spot with a couple of games in hand, a ten point cushion over bottom spot and keeping our top six ambitions in tact.

A home tie against Aberdeen is usually a grim affair for us, but with this Dons side coming off two midweek games in a row and a galling cup final defeat, it feels like an opportunity to really get the show back on the road.

While all the focus for the squad should rightly be on getting through the festive fixtures, for fans, thoughts are already beginning to turn to where we might strengthen in January. Happily enough, unlike some of our Premiership counterparts, the answer isn't "everywhere"; generally speaking, our squad-building has gone remarkably well so far, with most of Docherty's signings slotting in well or providing solid backup options.

It feels as if a lot of January will be nervously waiting for dominos to fall down south in such a way that our numerous loan signings end up being recalled.

Owen Beck is the most obvious feared loss; while we have other options at left back and left wing back, his singular talents no longer being at our disposal would probably require a rethink of our shape and strategy, unless Liverpool were generous enough to grant us a similar gem from their academy.

However, there is a spine of players that would be equally difficult to replace. It's easy to forget that Malachi Boateng and Amadou Bakayoko are loanees, but losing our midfield metronome and our most prolific striker would dramatically impact on the team.

It's not impossible that a relegation-fearing Motherwell recall Ricki Lamie to shore up their porous backline, and if the parent clubs of younger loanees such as Ryan Howley decide that they want their players to get more game time, then all of a sudden we're in need of some serious wheeler-dealing.

Setting aside our loanees, I imagine Doc's Christmas wish list involves bringing in another right-sided centre half and a new striking option. Portales limping off at Ibrox was a bad omen and the prospect of being without him for up to three months is grim.

Our defence held out well in the Highlands, with Jordan McGhee richly deserving plaudits for his efforts, but losing one of our first choice back three leaves Doc relying on loanees and Lee Ashcroft, who is still a worthy squad member but perhaps not suited to the rigours of starting every week in the Premiership. Either making Lamie permanent to give us some breathing space or, ideally, signing another centre half would make sense. 

Up front, while we've seen those playing behind the front line go from strength to strength, Bakayoko needs an effective foil to make the most of his playing style, so another option would seem a wise investment. Santa's already been good enough to bring me a furious Derek Adams, so I'm hoping that we've all been nice enough this year to earn those further presents.