Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Mullen hopes supersub showing is enough to earn start in key clash
DUNDEE striker Danny Mullen hopes his supersub appearance at Morton has done enough to earn him a start against Inverness tomorrow night.
The frontman came off the bench for the last half-hour at Cappielow, set up a goal for Jason Cummings, hit the post and then scored an 80th-minute equaliser to earn a point for his side.
However, he wasn’t able to jolt the Dark Blues out of their winless run as the 2-2 draw in Greenock made it four Championship matches without victory.
Going into the crucial rearranged clash with Caley Thistle, Dundee won’t have won a league match in two months.
Much of that time has been spent without games being played due to bad weather.
Mullen, though, knows wins have to start coming sooner rather than later for the Dark Blues.
“Starting on Tuesday we need to get a win and build a bit of momentum again and go on an unbeaten run, like we did earlier in the season for a number of weeks,” he said.
“In this league you need to pick up momentum and go on a run. We’ll need everybody in the team, we’ll all need to be ready for the weeks coming up as we have a busy schedule.
“Having the games coming up thick and fast is good, especially if you are getting wins.
“You’d rather have the points on the board but we’re looking forward to these games coming up, so we can build momentum.”
Mullen came into the game looking like he had a point to prove, having dropped to the bench following the arrival of former Hibs and Rangers man Jason Cummings.
And he hopes he made it to boss James McPake after netting his fifth goal of the campaign.
Mullen said: “Obviously nobody wants to be on the bench but I found myself there again this week.
“However, every time I go on the pitch I just try to give the manager a bit of a headache for the next game coming up and hopefully I have done that.
“It was good to get on, make an impact in the game and get a point, especially after being behind.
“I’m delighted with the impact I made.
“Deccy (McDaid) and Maxy (Anderson) came on as well and both of them were excellent.
“It was the right subs, at the right time in the game from the manager and it eventually got us back in the game.
“They played a part in getting us the point.”
On a bumpy pitch, the Dark Blues faced an early barrage of long, high balls, but just when it seemed they had weathered the storm, they were behind when Craig McGuffie gave Jack Hamilton no chance with a first-time volley four minutes before the break.
Dundee were better in the second half but it took the arrival of Mullen for Osman Sow to turn the flow of the game.
Cummings took full advantage of a flicked header by the substitute to fire below the onrushing goalkeeper on 65 minutes.
But Morton caught Dundee on the break five minutes later to regain the lead when McGuffie crossed for Luca Colville to send a header into the top corner.
Ten minutes from time, Mullen was in the right place to nod a cross by on-loan Dundee United winger Paul McMullan beyond keeper Aidan McAdams to snatch a point for the visitors.