Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Dundee can in style says
CAMMY Kerr doesn’t want to see a repeat showing of Dundee’s “tentative” side as they prepare for a Tayside derby determined to finish 2017 off in style.
The Dark Blues were comfortably swept aside at Dens Park on Boxing Day by champions Celtic, who went 11 points clear with the 2-0 victory.
And vice-captain Kerr says he felt some of his team-mates were on “different wavelengths” from each other — and that’s something they certainly don’t want to repeat at St Johnstone tomorrow.
He said: “I j ust felt there was something missing in the performance on Tuesday.
“Workrate and application was there but the final bit of belief to go and make something happen in the game wasn’t there for us.
“It’s disappointing because we were off the back of a good result against Partick and a well-fought draw against Motherwell, so we had plenty of belief going into the game that we could get something.
“It was a frantic kind of game. When Callum McGregor hit the post early doors, we got a let-off and maybe that scared us, I don’t know.
“We were just a bit tentative I think in our play. Sometimes you have days like that but it’s important you keep trying to make things happen.
“I felt sometimes one player was on a different wavelength to another. “We don’t want it to occur again.” Kerr and his Dee team-mates have already tasted victory against Tommy Wright’s Saints this season. Back in mid-September, the Perth side were beaten 3-2 at Dens and also suffered defeat in the Tayside derby this time last year as Dundee ran out 3-0 victors with an excellent home display.
This time, the clash is at McDiarmid Park but Kerr is keen to relive the feeling of finishing up before the winter break with a result.
He added: “We beat them at Dens so, hopefully, we can take the same sort of application we had in that game and go to a tough venue and get something.
“St Johnstone are well drilled and have the same sort of base of players they’ve had for a number of years.
“But I think we know how to exploit them. We know their dangers as well.
“You want to sign off the year in good style and go into the break with a smile on your face.