Jinky: Fans have to play their part

FORMER Dundee favourite Ray Farningham is backing former team-mate Neil McCann to keep the team up but says the fans have to play their part.

‘Jinky’ was one of the senior men at Dens when McCann — Dundee’s new interim manager — was starting to make his mark on the senior game as a youngster.

At the age of 19, McCann made his debut in dark blue but the following season began to nail down a regular starting spot in the campaign ‘Jinky’ arrived at Dens.

Farningham said: “He was just a young lad when we were both at Dundee.

“He was just breaking through and was a quiet boy but one thing was he always spoke up when it was needed.

“He always had an opinion which you can see he’s kept up in his work as a commentator.

“He knows the game but it’s not all about that now.

“It’s about building the confidence of the players and making sure the team are up for the last five games.

“I think two victories might just be good enough to see them through, I hope so anyway.

“I’m sure Neil won’t be thinking that way, though — it’s an old cliché but he’ll be taking it one game at a time and concentrating fully on Motherwell.”

That first test for Dundee’s new rookie manager will bring about good memories for the squad he’s inherited.

Their last trip to Fir Park was in fact their last victory eight games ago and was the best moment of the season.

A rampant Dark Blues side tore the Steelmen apart in a first half that had the visitors 5-1 up.

For ‘Jinky’ that’s something Neil can use to his advantage.

“The players will have good memories of the last time they played at Fir Park,” he added.

“It was a really good result and something they’ll have in the back of their minds as they go into that match.