Dark Blues rue letting chance slip

Dundee can ill afford to keep squandering golden opportunities to cut the gap at the top of the Championship, according to Graham Dorrans.

After conceding three goals in six minutes at Dens Park on Saturday to throw away the points against Partick Thistle, salt was poured into the wound with the news that Dundee United and Ayr United had lost and Inverness Caley Thistle had drawn.

A Dundee win would have taken James McPake’s side to within three points of the leaders and Dorrans admitted that they need to start seizing chances like that.

“It would have been a massive win for us,” he said.

“When you see both Dundee United and Ayr United losing and Inverness dropping points, it makes it harder to take.”

“The teams above us all dropped points, so it’s another great opportunity which has passed us by,” added the midfielder.

“Of course, the supporters are frustrated. When you get so close to winning and then you conceded preventable goals, everyone will be rightly disappointed.

“But we just need to stick together and keep going.”

The nature of Saturday’s defeat left Dorrans puzzled.

He said: “I thought for 30 minutes we were great.

“We moved the ball and did what we had worked on over the last couple of weeks in training.

“But then, for one reason or another, I thought they went on to dominate from 30 minutes onwards. So we got what we deserved.

“At the moment, I can’t put my finger on why that happened.

“It’s just so disappointing that we conceded three goals in the last six minutes or so.

“Overall, I don’t think we played well enough over the course of the game.

“But when you get that close to the final whistle and you concede three goals when you were 1-0 up, it’s never good.”