VINCENT PLANS TO GIVE McCANN A JUMP START

DUNDEE midfielder James Vincent has urged his team-mates to harness the memory of their finest 45 minutes this season to give Neil McCann the perfect start as interim boss. In February, the Dens Park side demolished Motherwell 5-1 at Fir Park, with all the goals coming in the first half. It spelled the end for Motherwell boss Mark McGhee but, within weeks, Paul Hartley was also sacked as his Dark Blues side went into freefall. Now Vincent is hoping Sky Sports pundit McCann will benefit from a repeat of that performance against the same opponents today in his first game in charge, and secure the win that would take Dundee above their hosts and out of the dreaded drop zone. ‘Does winning 5-1 at Fir Park last time give us hope? Of course it does,’ said Vincent. ‘With the new manager coming in, it’s like hitting a re-start button. ‘You still have to look back to that game. There are positives to take from it and, hopefully, everyone will go there with a spring in their step. If we work on the gaffer’s plans in training this week, we can get a win.’ Vincent credits McCann with restoring positivity in a squad that has suffered a crisis in confidence amid a run of seven straight losses. ‘It’s a new start for everyone and it’s all been fresh and positive,’ he said. ‘He’s spoken to us individually and let us know what he thinks about us and about our game, what we can bring to the shape he wants the team to play. He also spoke to us as a group and said it’s not been easy with recent results, but training has been good since he’s come in. ‘Our mindset is good and if we keep that right, then hopefully it will help us. ‘We know we have to put recent results right and forget any negativity. ‘The manager said the split is a mini-league. We have already played each team three times, so we know their strengths and weaknesses.’ Meanwhile, McCann insists training has been so impressive this week that picking a starting line-up today is giving him a headache. ‘It will be a really hard decision because we’ve been working on a game plan and I’ve had everyone involved in that,’ he said. ‘They have been brilliant. But it won’t just be the 11 players who win us the game on Saturday. It will be everything we’ve done in the week leading up to it. ‘The result there last time should help the players because they’ve fared well against Motherwell in the past.’ Motherwell winger Elliott Frear admits the scars of that hammering still linger. Rather than be cowed by those grim memories, however, he believes they can be used to ensure a different outcome. ‘A game like that sticks with you a long time,’ he said. ‘It was 5-1 when I came on. That was a first half everyone at the club wants to forget. It was difficult to watch from the bench. The fact we could now go five points ahead of them after the last result between us sums up football. Anything can happen.’