Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
No panic for Dark Blues says gaffer
DESPITE his side having yet to pick up a Premiership point after three games this season, Dundee boss Neil McCann insists this is no time to panic.
Two goals from Stevie May either side of a Roarie Deacon equaliser saw Aberdeen take all three points on Saturday at Pittodrie.
The result left the Dark Blues in bottom spot in the league table but Neil says the performance at the Dons leaves “more than enough” to be encouraged about.
He said: “It’s a tough start, we’ve lost the first three games but there’s more than enough there to be encouraged.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got no points but I’m not going to start panicking three games into the season.
“I know where I’m going with this team, the team know what I want to achieve with them and we’ll work hard every day.
“Graham Gartland and myself will work every day to try and get us better.
“I thought defensively, after losing a really poor goal last week, at times we were excellent on Saturday and coped with a real threat.
“We’re not feeling sorry f or ourselves or panicking yet, I certainly won’t be and the players won’t be either.”
The Dens gaffer, however, faces an anxious wait on the fitness of his two frontmen, Marcus Haber and Faissal El Bakhtaoui, after they both got injured in the same move.
With Sofien Moussa and Craig Wighton both having undergone surgery in the past couple of weeks, Dundee could be without a recognised striker for next weekend’s home clash with Hibs.
On Haber and El Bakhtaoui, Neil said: “They’re just being assessed at the moment, there’s nothing to say other than the injuries were significant enough that we had to replace them.
“Again, we’ve not had much luck on that front when you think about it.
“We just need to see how they are this week.”
There is a couple of positive pieces of injury news for Dundee, though.
“Big Moussa came through an operation and it’s a positive outlook but he won’t be ready and available until after the international break.
“Randy Wolters is coming back. His rehabilitation has been positive, which will come in handy with the numbers we’re losing, but we just have to get on with it.
“Other teams will suffer this throughout the season but we’ll just go, that’s all we can do.”