McIntyre pleased at way Dark Blues bounce back

DUNDEE: Manager says recovery at Livi shows his side’s ‘steel’

Dundee boss Jim McIntyre would rather not have to fight back but he is delighted his team can do so.

The Dark Blues showed what McIntyre called “steeliness” to come back from a goal down to beat Livingston 2-1 at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Saturday.

It was bouncebackability of the highest order, securing a brilliant victory that finally lifted them out of the Premiership’s bottom two.

It is Hibs at home next up for the Dens men and McIntyre also saw his players recover from two down to secure a draw at Easter Road when those sides last met.

McIntyre is pleased that they have that determination in them, saying: “The key message at half-time at Livingston was don’t panic and keep trying to move the ball because we’ve got 45 minutes to turn this around.

“I told them, ‘Don’t try and do it in the first five minutes, keep moving the ball and use the man advantage, try and stretch them’.

“We went to Easter Road and were two goals down and came back, so there is that bit of steeliness in the team.

“However, I said after the window I feel we’ve got better balance and strength in the side. Size-wise, we look better as well.

“These are all key aspects when it comes to winning games, especially when you go to places like Livi and face such a big, physical side. “You’ve got to match their physicality. “We switched off at their goal and got done at a long throw but we didn’t panic and that’s the most important thing.

“I think I have mentioned Kilmarnock because they have gone behind a number of times but they just keep doing what they’ve been doing and have a trust in their work.

“That’s what we’re trying to do – keep trusting in what we’re doing.”

McIntyre is hopeful of having in-form frontman Andrew Nelson available for the Hibs game.

He said: “Andrew injured himself celebrating when he scored. He jumped up and landed on his heel. But he should be fine for Friday night.”