Mullen wants to be top gun
Dens Park favourite aiming to keep Griffiths and Cummings on bench
AI believe in myself. I believe I am the best striker at the club
MATCH that started with Dundee paying tribute to club legend Doug Cowie ended with Danny Mullen taking the acclaim of the Dens Park faithful.
Hours before kick-off came the sad news that Cowie, the club’s record appearance holder and a member of the League Cup-winning sides of 1951 and 1952, had passed away at the age of 95.
How James McPake’s team rode the wave of emotion as Dundee remembered a player who represented Scotland at the World Cup in 1954 and 1958.
A whirlwind first-half showing saw the home side 2-0 ahead but it could easily have been four or five had it not been for the performance of Motherwell’s excellent goalkeeper Liam Kelly.
Luke McCowan netted the opener but all eyes were on Mullen after his man-of-the-match performance saw him score his second goal in two games since returning from injury.
He is in fine form but a quick glance at the home bench is all that is required to provide the necessary motivation for the 26-year-old to keep his standards high.
Scotland internationals Leigh Griffiths and Jason Cummings are undoubtedly the bigger stars. But Mullen is currently Dundee’s first-choice striker and the selfconfident former Livingston and St Mirren frontman intends keeping it that way.
‘Griffiths and Cummings are big names but it pushes me to get the best out of myself,’ said Mullen.
‘Do I relish the competition for places? Yes, I believe in myself. I believe I am the best striker at the club — and I think they will believe that (they are the best strikers at the club).
‘But it pushes me to be the best version of myself and today thankfully I got the goal and the man-of-the-match performance.
‘The manager started me in the first game of the season and he has got faith in me. That gives me confidence.
‘It’s about paying back that faith the manager has shown in me.
‘It was good to score. That’s two in the league now and I’ll be looking forward to St Johnstone on Wednesday and hopefully I can continue that run.
‘I’m buzzing but the most important thing was we got the three points.’
After Steelmen keeper Kelly made a fine save from Mullen’s fierce drive, McCowan got Dundee deservedly off the mark.
Picking up a slack header by Bevis Mugabi in the box, he drilled a low shot through a ruck of bodies and into the net.
Kelly then made fine saves from Lee Ashcroft and Mullen but he could not stop Dundee extending their lead when Mullen played a one-two with McCowan before blasting low past Kelly to make it two goals in seven first-half minutes.
Within 120 seconds of the restart, Motherwell substitute Kevin van Veen saw a shot cannon back off the post.
But the game was over when Charlie Adam’s free-kick was knocked across goal by Ashcroft and home centre-back Ryan Sweeney bundled the ball over Kelly’s line.
Victory moved Dundee three points clear of bottom side Ross County. But just three points now separate the Dens Park club in 11th and St Mirren in seventh.
‘In this league, if you get a few wins together you can climb the table very quickly,’ said Mullen.
‘Motherwell, if they had beaten us, would have been sitting in third. It just goes to show what can happen.
‘It was a good performance right the way through the team from the keeper to the guys up top, to the subs who came on.
‘We all worked hard for each other and got the result. We controlled the game from start to finish.’
In truth, this was a really poor performance from a Motherwell side that had just beaten Aberdeen at Pittodrie and high-flying Hearts at Fir Park.
Kelly admits this defeat was down to the players and not their manager, Graham Alexander.
‘The last couple of weeks, we have been set up really hard to beat and we’ve been really good — so it’s a bit of a mystery,’ said Kelly.
‘This week the manager asked for nothing different from us. He just asked for better from us, he asked for more.
‘So this one is definitely on the players and only the players because every one of us could have played better today and put on a better showing than we did.
‘We just never really got going. The first 20, 25 minutes killed us for the rest of the game.
‘Maybe it is a different game if Kevin van Veen’s shot goes in to make it 2-1 after the break.
‘But, at the same time, the game’s done if Dundee had taken one of their other good chances. I don’t think we deserved to win. Credit to Dundee, they were the better team and they deserved to win.
‘This wasn’t a great performance by any means but the games are coming thick and fast, so we can’t dwell on it.
‘Now we have got a game on Tuesday night at home to Dundee United and it’s an opportunity to put things right.
‘Hopefully we will be a lot better than that — myself included.
‘Hopefully we can put in a lot better a performance and give our brilliant fans who made the trip up to Dundee over the weekend something better than we gave them on Saturday.’
DUNDEE (4-4-1-1): Legzdins 7; Kerr 7, Ashcroft 6 (Fontaine 54), Sweeney 7, Marshall 7; McMullan 7, Anderson 7 (Elliot 69), Adam 8, McCowan 7; McGowan 8 (Griffiths 65); Mullen 8. Subs not used: Lawlor, Panter, Cummings, Lamb. Booked: Mullen, Sweeney, Fontaine. MOTHERWELL (4-3-3): Kelly 7; Mugabi 5, Solholm 5, Lamie 5, McGinley 5; Slattery 5, Maguire 5, Grimshaw 4 (Van Veen 46); Woolery 5, Shields 4 (Roberts 46), Watt 5. Subs not used: Fox, O’Donnell, Carroll, O’Connor, Cornelius. Booked: Slattery, Mugabi, Roberts. Man of the match: Danny Mullen. Referee: Craig Napier. Attendance: 4,747.