McPake accepts fans’ frustration

DU N DE E boss Ja mes Mc P a ke a c c e pt s the back lash he a nd h is side received from fans fol low i n g S at u r d ay ’s 3 -1 h o m e d e fe at to Partick Thistle was fully merited.

The Dark Blues fell apart in the closing moments at Dens Park, going from winning 1-0 with five minutes of regular time left to finishing the game on the end of a 3-1 loss after late strikes from Kenny Miller, Shea Gordon and Lewis Mansell.

The Dee supporters were vocal in their discontent, voicing their anger and booing the players and staff down the tunnel on Saturday.

Asked if he agreed with the fans’ reaction to the late collapse, he said: “Rightly so.

“They’ll be scratching their heads and I get why they’re nervous because I’m nervous watching it as well.

“When you don’t put the chances away and punish teams you should be upset.

“It’s broken record material because I’ve been saying it for weeks now but the fans are great.

“It was a great turnout and I’ve no issue with it. If I were one of them, sitting on the terracing, I’d be the exact same.

“To sit and watch that, the way we folded with five minutes to go, is worrying for them as well.”

Dundee’s next Championship test comes in the form of a trip to Somerset Park to face joint league leaders Ayr United on Friday night.

The Honest Men lost 3-2 to Dunfermline last time out and currently don’t have a new permanent manager in place following Ian McCall’s departure for Partick.

However, James insists his side will be in for a tough test on the Ayrshire coast.

“We need to pick a team that can go down there and handle it because it’s a real tough place to go,” he added. “They’ve shown that with the teams that have gone down there and struggled.

“They’ve been here and they’re a good side. It (the defeat to Partick) hurts but we need to be right back at it for Ayr.”

DANNY Johnson scored a terrific goal from 25 yards to give Dundee reserves a 1-0 win against Morton at Cappielow yesterday.

First-team men Cammy Kerr, Finlay Robertson, Josh Todd and Andrew Nelson were all on show in Greenock.

The Dundee players trudge off the pitch at full-time following the sickening 3-1 defeat to Partick Thistle at Dens Park on Saturday.