McCANN FEELS NO PRESSURE JUST YET

DUNDEE boss Neil McCann has dismissed suggestions he is under pressure following last weekend’s shock defeat to newly-promoted Championship side Ayr United. The Dark Blues exited the Betfred Cup after a 3-0 loss to Ian McCall’s team as they followed up defeats in their opening two Ladbrokes Premiership fixtures with another disappointment. But McCann was in combative mood at his media conference ahead of today’s trip to St Johnstone, insisting it is far too early for him to be feeling the strain. ‘Yeah, we’ve lost three on the bounce. I’m not ignorant of that fact,’ said the manager. ‘But it’s very early in the season. We’re talking third league game of the season here. ‘I don’t know if you’re trying to put pressure on me, but I don’t feel pressure. ‘I do feel an enormous amount of confidence in my team and the performances in the league have been good without bearing points. ‘If you want to bring pressure on me, fine, you can bring it. But I’m not about to apply that to the team because I’ve seen a real good reaction this week. ‘Look at the very best team in the country, Celtic, right now and they are not firing. ‘We’re all searching for that finished product where you are playing well and winning games. ‘We’ve not quite hit the wins yet. We’ve not got a point and have gone out of the Betfred Cup. ‘That’s disappointing but the group I have proved they can play good football. We just want to get the points I think their play deserves.’ The trip to Perth will see McCann come face to face with rival Tommy Wright once again. There is no love lost between the pair following their touchline argument at Dens Park back in March — and it appears that McCann is in no mood to patch up things. ‘No, there’s no relationship with Tommy — I never had one previously either,’ he said. ‘We’re two managers who want our teams to do their best and I’m only interested in my team going into this game.’ Asked if there would be a pre-match handshake, he replied: ‘I don’t know if that will happen or not. ‘We’ve had a bit of a set-to on the touchline, but I’m not interested in St Johnstone or Tommy Wright or their players. ‘All I’m interested in is making sure that myself and my players have all the information gathered and that hopefully we can come out on top.’