Fontaine rallies team for challenge

Goals and wins may not be coming for Dundee but defender Liam Fontaine has urged his team-mates not to allow recent results to affect them.

The Dark Blues haven’t scored in their last four outings and have yet to taste victory in the Premiership since returning from the Championship this season.

After a run like that, all they need now is a visit of champions and league leaders Rangers.

The 35-year-old defender is in the 16th year of his career and insists his team-mates should be embracing the challenge that lies in front of them.

“I’ve been in football a long time and I’ve been in teams where we’ve been losing and playing badly at the same time,” Fontaine said.

“If you watched Wednesday’s game (2-0 loss to St Johnstone), we are playing well in terms of our passing and moving. We’re just not getting that little bit of luck.

“We’re in the Premiership, so we’re up a level from last year.

“You get tested in football.

“We could be playing a lot worse. We need to keep that faith in our ability and in our team-mates.

“We’re one of the best teams in the league for chances created. We need to put more demand on ourselves as players to get them over the line.”

Steven Gerrard’s men are their next opponents as top meets bottom but Fontaine insists the challenge ahead in tomorrow’s clash is one Dundee should enjoy.

“These are the games we worked so hard for last year,” the experienced defender added.

“We wanted to get promoted for these games. Games don’t get any tougher than the champions coming here but we have to relish it and enjoy these games, as tough as they can be.”