The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Dens gaffer ‘taken aback’ by Neilson
Dundee boss James Mcpake says he was “taken aback” by Robbie Neil son’ s post-match comments after their 3-1 victory over Hearts.
The Dark Blues gained a measure of revenge on the Jambos for the openingday 6 -2 trouncing at Tynecastle by cutting the gap at the top of the table to five points on Saturday night.
A dominant first half from the Dens Park club earned a two- goal lead before the visitors came back into the contest after the break through an Andy Irving goal.
Hearts had chances to level things but Dundee stood firm and eventually sealed a vital three points in their Championship challenge through a late Jonathan Afolabi penalty.
Tynecastle boss Neilson disagreed with the awarding of the spot-kick and pointed the finger at referee Don Robertson after the game adding that he felt Shaun Byrne should have been red-carded in the second minute.
He also said “on the balance of chances, we should have won the game”.
Mcpake, though, rejects that.
The Dundee boss said: “I was surprised at Robbie’s comments.
“I didn’t quite get the one where he thought they might have won the game, I was taken aback by that.
“Without being disrespectful I think we could have been three or four up if you look at Danny Mullen’ s chance and Osman Sow’s chance in the first half. We could also have had another penalty.
“Yeah, they had chances but that wasn’t the game I watched. It was maybe a bit of emotion from Robbie after the game.
“I thought the referee was right with the Byrne tackle.
“It was a foul and a hard challenge but he wasn’t out of control.
“If Shaun had gone in to hurt Naismith I would have been fuming with him because that’s not how we do things.
“On the night, the better team won.”
Meanwhile, Mcpake says he is “worried” by the new restrictions brought in this week to deal with the latest surge of coronavirus cases.
But as it stands there are no changes to Dundee’s preparation for matches.
Next up for the Dark Blues is a Scottish Cup clash with Lowland League Bonnyrigg Rose at Dens Park before a return to league action next Tuesday night at Raith Rovers.
“Naturally I’m worried,” he added.
“However, there are still people losing their lives and getting really ill.
“Everybody will know someone who has been affected.
“Football at the minute is going ahead and until we’re told otherwise we’ ll continue.
“What we need to be is ultra-cautious, though, and we’ve hammered that down to the players. We are privileged to still be allowed to work.
“The new restrictions don’t change anything for us at the minute.
“We’ll be dictated to by the authorities but we will be as pro-active as we can be.
“First and foremost the health of our players and families comes above anything.”