Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Dee heard wake-up call but need victory
THE 4-0 beating handed out by St Johnstone last month might just turn out to be Dundee’s most important of the season.
I know that may sound strange but that Saints doing drummed it into the Dark Blues they were in a relegation battle.
After that game, I spoke to midfielder Mark O’Hara and he said the hammering was a wake-up call the players had to answer.
The good news is they have done just that. To a point, anyway.
The following game was another defeat, this time to Aberdeen, but it was a much grittier, determined performance, if not a good one.
Then came a much better showing against Hearts where they could easily have won and a strong defensive display at Celtic.
The Rangers game three days later didn’t end too well but, for the first hour at least, Dundee were well in the game and playing some good stuff.
What they’ve got to do now — and it’s an absolute must in the next three matches — is get a win on the board.
Just twice have the Dark Blues picked up three points in a league game since the turn of the year, against Hamilton and Partick respectively.
That’s nowhere near good enough for a team that’s told everyone all season they were targeting a top-six finish.
Four points is a decent lead to have over the bottom two, though, and allows them to have another off-day at some point before the end of the season.
What they absolutely can’t do is let that off-day come this Saturday. I can’t see that happening, however. Purely because of how appallingly bad that previous display was against Saints.
The players’ pride won’t allow that to happen again and certainly the manager will be doing everything humanly possible to get one over St Johnstone after the way the last match ended — even if he has to do so from the touchline.
Putting to bed their poor home form, too, would be a nice pick-me-up going into the final furlong.
They also need to get the home fans on their side after next season’s pay-atthe-gate ticket pricing has blown up in the board’s face with a hefty £30 to be charged for ‘Premium’ games.
This is a situation that didn’t need to happen but the best way to mend that relationship is to win matches and entertain — that’s the job of players and management, starting Saturday.