Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Gers victory showed Dee must keep faith
DUNDEE’S approach against Rangers was absolutely spot on — the trick is now to keep that up for the rest of the campaign.
That’s not something they’ve been able to do for a couple of years now — the only real consistency they’ve managed has been the bad kind that’s led to winless run after winless run, punctuated by a few victories.
Manager Neil McCann is trying to change the mindset around the whole club and, after such a positive night on Friday, this is a big test whether he’ll be able to do that with the players he has at his disposal.
Back in February, under Paul Hartley, the Dark Blues deservedly beat Rangers before romping to a 5-1 victory at Motherwell.
At that point, Dundee were flying but it turned quickly and Hartley didn’t win another game as manager with seven defeats on the bounce costing him his job.
This weekend at Ross County, the Dark Blues would be delighted with a follow-up performance half as good as that Motherwell one.
What is key, though, is that they take full advantage of the good feeling around the squad following the win over the Gers and use it to kickstart their season.
What I liked about them on Friday was they showed real belief in themselves throughout the game.
Rangers probably edged the first half, certainly on chances, and there weren’t too many opportunities coming for the Dark Blues to score.
That didn’t faze them, though, and they got their reward not just once but twice from Mark O’Hara.
Plenty in the crowd, myself included, worried for them when they conceded the equaliser — it was that type of game where Rangers would come on strong and take the points late on.
Dundee, though, kept their heads and scored a cracker — in the process, killing off any lingering threat from the Glasgow side.
That’s a huge disappointment for the Gers, that they couldn’t even manage a shot on goal in the last 10 minutes, though plenty credit should go to Dundee.
The Dark Blues were also unworried when their preferred way of passing out from the back wasn’t coming off — they found another way and it worked.
Being bottom of the league makes it difficult to keep the faith with what you’re doing but Friday showed what belief can do to a team — the key is to keep it going, though, and that’s easier said than done.