The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Murray hailed a ‘manager’s dream’ as Dark Blues dig in
McGowan says striker already making his mark with attitude and ability
Dundee goal hero Simon Murray has been labelled a “manager’s dream” by team-mate Paul McGowan.
Murray lit up Firhill with a late double last Saturday as the Dark Blues dug in for victory against a Partick Thistle side that had looked to be on course to take three points.
It was a fantastic result, the magnitude of which will not be measured until the dust has settled on the Premiership season.
It was also terrific to see a player, who perhaps does not get the plaudits he deserves at times, reap such a rich reward for his refusal to give up despite missing chances.
Murray may not be everybody’s cup of tea but McGowan insists it is taking the biscuit to do anything other than see him as a great addition to the squad.
McGowan is backing him to carry on where he left off in Maryhill when Motherwell visit Dens this afternoon.
The midfielder said: “I was delighted for Simon because he missed a great chance beforehand but never let his head go down.
“He works so hard and is probably a manager’s dream.
“He might not score all the time but he is always in the right place at the right time when the chances do come around.
“It doesn’t get any better than that, scoring a last-minute winner.
“Simon is a lovely boy who has come here and fitted in really well. He’s got on with everybody from the first minute.
“He has an infectious personality and that side of things has rubbed off on everyone.
“Simon works his socks off no matter how things are going for him, and you can’t ask for any more than that.
“I think his workrate makes him stand out from a lot of other strikers. You don’t normally get that from them.
“But you’ve got to remember he can finish as well,” added McGowan.
“People are maybe forgetting that before he came here on loan he had scored 14 goals for Hibs when he was in and out of the team.
“That’s not a bad ratio at all, and now he’s grabbed two goals for Dundee.
“People are always going to pick holes in your game. Critics will say he doesn’t do this well or doesn’t do that well, but that goes for every player.”
Murray’s magic ensured that, instead of the gloom and doom that would have greeted a defeat, there has been a feelgood factor at the club all week.
McGowan said: “It has definitely given the whole place a lift.
“I didn’t think it was one of our greatest performances but it just shows you the fighting spirit we have here.
“We have probably been questioned on that over the season so I was delighted because it was a sore one we had taken down at Kilmarnock just before that, losing 3-2 to 10 men. That defeat knocked the stuffing out of us and you could see how much it hurt the boys.
“We’ve played well in games and maybe not got the results we deserved, like the last time down at Partick earlier in the season when they beat us late on despite us wiping the floor with them.
“Maybe we got that wee rub of the green this time around.
“I was delighted for the manager and the boys because it’s been a rollercoaster this season, up and down most weeks.
“Now we just want to kick on and try to take care of this game with Motherwell, which will be very tough.
“We had umpteen chances against them in the Scottish Cup tie recently which we didn’t take, and they won here 2-0 in the end.
“Clearly, the goals we conceded were poor.
“That was another one that got away as far as we’re concerned, but that’s football and you just need to go and deal with it.”
Meanwhile, Craig Tanner insists Motherwell’s scoring form since Louis Moult’s exit is proof they were no oneman team.
The Fir Park side lost their top-scorer at the start of last month when Moult clinched a £500,000 switch to Preston.
Saturday’s narrow loss to Kilmarnock was the first time the Steelmen have failed to find the net in the eight games since Moult’s departure.
New signings Nadir Ciftci and Curtis Main have taken up the onus of leading from the front for Stephen Robinson’s side, with the pair grabbing five goals between them since hooking up last month.
Tanner is looking to continue his own remarkable scoring form against Dundee.
The midfielder has netted in all three of Well’s previous clashes with the Dens Park men this season.
“Louis was a top quality player and his record proves he deserved the move he got,” said Tanner.
“But at the end of the day it wasn’t just Louis Moult that was on the pitch. There were 10 other people plus the guys on the bench.”
Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson will leave it late before deciding whether to risk Elliott Frear or Liam Grimshaw.
The pair both featured against Kilmarnock last week but have not trained since.
Midfielder Frear (hamstring) and defender Grimshaw (tight groin) rejoined their team-mates yesterday to be assessed for action at Dens Park.
Allan Campbell returns after missing the Killie clash with hamstring trouble, while Cedric Kipre is back from suspension.
Recent recruit Stephen Hendrie is also in contention to play alongside George Newall (hamstring) and Ryan Bowman (broken cheekbone) after all three featured for Well’s U20s against Ross County on Tuesday.
Ellis Plummer (broken leg) and Peter Hartley (foot) remain out.