Strachan’s advice valued by Dundee boss McPake

Manager grateful for guidance from Dens technical director

Dundee manager James McPake has stressed the importance of being able to tap into the sage advice of Gordon Strachan.

The Dark Blues boss had reason to be cheerful on Friday night after his team won 2-1 at Ayr.

The result was a brilliant response following a late collapse at home to Partick Thistle the previous Saturday.

Although at Dens as technical director and not officially involved in first-team matters, Strachan confirmed at the weekend – while working as a TV pundit – that he has had words of encouragement for McPake after setbacks such as the Thistle game and the Dundee derby.

McPake said: “Gordon has been great and I have Jimmy Nicholl there as well.

“Those are two really experienced guys in football and we also have Dave Mackay on the staff.

“It is important to have that because I am young.

“Gordon keeps saying to me that you make the wrong decisions when you are experienced and you make the wrong decisions when you are inexperienced.

“It is just about trying to make as many right decisions as you can.

“He is a help and I’m not going to try and deny it.

“You have somebody at the club who has been at the very top in football both as a player and a manager. You are going to use that asset.”

Meanwhile, McPake is looking for his players to maintain the standards hit at Ayr when they travel to Alloa this evening.

He said: “I was really pleased that the players showed real character to see it out considering what had happened at the end of the Partick match.

“It was a psychological boost because I think some people thought we were soft touches at times.

“It is all about kicking on now. We got our first away win in the league so that ticks a box.

“I was thinking on the bus back that I was glad it finished 2-1 because the players will believe they can see games out.

“We haven’t won two on the bounce yet, though, so that’s the next target for us.

“You would then have momentum.”

Picture: SNS. James McPake wants Dundee to repeat their level of performance from last Friday’s win over Ayr United when they take on Alloa Athletic this evening.