McCann positivity paying off for Dee

THE size of Dundee’s win on Saturday and what it can do for their survival bid can’t be measured.

I’m not just talking about the three points — which were very welcome of course — but the massive wave of optimism which seems to have surrounded the place lately.

And a big part of that is the message coming from interim boss Neil McCann.

He was very positive about the ability of the players and that message seems to have got through to them.

The players were obviously keen to impress the new manager and prove him right for talking them up.

They also looked a lot more solid defensively than they had in the games beforehand.

Motherwell did score two goals — and potentially three with the one cleared off the line — but the Dundee defence worked really hard.

That goal-that-wasn’t was very harsh on Motherwell especially considering the previous decisions they’ve had against the Dark Blues earlier in the season.

However, that’s what happens in football and Dundee aren’t going to complain.

It’s great to see the luck going their way, though, after the run they’ve been on.

It wasn’t all luck, however, despite a fair bit of fortune considering the ‘goal’ and the domination Motherwell had in the first period.

The Steelmen threw everything at the Dundee defence and they stood strong when it mattered.

They kept them out for the first half and held on at the end for what could be a huge, huge win.

If they got beat on Saturday it could really have affected them for the end of the season.

The mood would’ve been low and it’s difficult to bounce back from eight defeats in a row.

So far, the Dundee board’s gamble has paid off and they got the lift they were looking for in terms of the performances of the players.

However, it’s only one game and this weekend at Kilmarnock will be tough.

The Rugby Park side are going well and it’s been a similar position for them in terms of a rookie manager.

They got a lift, too, from Lee McCulloch taking over and it’ll be a difficult one for Dundee.

If they come away from that with a draw, though, I think they’d be happy — four points from two away games is a decent return.

Dundee interim manager Neil McCann celebrates his side scoring at Fir Park as he won his first match in charge.