Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
McCann — Suck in that winning feeling
DUNDEE interim boss Neil McCann has urged his players to “suck it all in” after leading them to a second straight victory.
A second-half Marcus Haber header was enough for the Dark Blues to see off Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and in the process make it two wins in two games under McCann in.
The result sees the Dens men move four points clear of both Motherwell and Hamilton below them and within touching distance of safety.
And Neil was full of praise for his entire team after a deserved victory.
He said: “I’m so happy for them. Having been a footballer and being on the end of a losing run, I know how low you can get but to come back and win two on the bounce is exceptional.
“I told them to go away after the game and enjoy it, really suck it all in and get everything from it, ready to go again today.
“They are winners again and that’s a lovely feeling.”
After putting an end to their dreadful run of seven defeats on the bounce last week at Motherwell, Neil was delighted to see a different kind of performance from his side at Rugby Park.
“Kilmarnock are a different animal, I believe, under Lee McCulloch,” he added.
“They are hard to break down and they keep their shape well, they’re hard working, so we knew we’d have to come up with something different.
“We knew we’d play differently going forward but would have the same ethic when we’ve not got the ball.”
At Motherwell, Dundee sat in and broke on the counter attack but on Saturday dominated the ball in the opening period, creating chances but were unable to take any of them.
“I wasn’t too worried had we gone in at 0-0,” said Neil.
“I know we had a couple of chances and played really well.
“We worked the goalkeeper and Woodman had some good saves but I wasn’t too bothered, I trusted them.
“I knew we would come good if we kept going and kept matching Kilmarnock’s effort.
“We did have to weather a storm a little bit because we got a bit deeper but it’s everything we worked on.
“We worked on the latter stages of a game where we would have to defend as a team and throw bodies on the line — that’s what gets you three points.”