Haber strike issues boss a reminder

MARCUS Haber gave his boss the perfect reminder of his abilities as he helped Dundee to sign off the first half of the season with a Tayside derby victory.

The Canadian has found himself on the fringes of the first team lately with Sofien Moussa and A-Jay Leitch-Smith the preferred strike pairing in recent games.

And with calls from both fans and the media for manager Neil McCann to recruit a striker in the January transfer window, Haber’s time at the club looked to be running out.

However, after a knock suffered in the Boxing Day defeat to Celtic kept Moussa out of the team at St Johnstone last weekend, Haber got his chance to stake a claim.

And he took it within three minutes, putting the Dark Blues one up with a good finish and setting them on their way to a deserved 2-0 victory at McDiarmid Park.

Though the 28-year-old admits it’s been difficult to sit out in the last few weeks, he is relishing the competition at the club.

He said: “It’s always frustrating, you want to contribute.

“I’ve stayed ready and football always has a way of giving you another chance to come in.

“The boys have been playing well but my number was called on Saturday and I was happy to get a goal.

“We’ve got a number of players who can play in certain spots so there is a l ot of competition for the attacking places.

“I always want to do well but the main thing is the three points and taking a win into the winter break.

“You always need to be ready when you come back into the team.

“The boys have been playing well of late so I just wanted to contribute.

“We’re delighted to get the three points — McDiarmid Park is a tough place to go to and we’re happy to take that into the break.”

Going into the winter shut-down, Dundee sit i n 10th spot i n the Premiership table, just two points above the relegation play-off place.