McGowan issues grim assessment

PAUL McGowan insists Dundee are in the s*** and has told his teammates they need to stand up and be counted. Tuesday’s dispiriting loss at Livingston – a sixth straight Premiership defeat – has left James McPake’s side five points adrift of safety in 11th place.

Aside from a one-on-one chance midfielder McGowan wasted, the Dark Blues failed to lay a glove on the Lions, who won courtesy of Bruce Anderson’s quick-fire double at the start of the second half.

And in a refreshingly candid interview, experienced playmaker McGowan insists Dundee cannot afford to carry any passengers as they fight for their top-flight status.

He said: “Hopefully it’s an eye-opener because we’re in the s*** now, it’s plain and simple.

“If I hear anybody talking about top six or that s **** , they will be told to shut up because we’re in a dogfight now and we need to realise that. You don’t just play with ability, it’s about fighting for each other and doing the basics of football. Livingston were good and every one of them fight for each other and make it hard for you. We were miles off doing that.

“It’s a major eye-opener that. The manager is working to get players in and they’re needed but as players we have to look at ourselves. Words were said and they had to be. How many times are we going to go over the same stuff? I thought we were flat and there were no excuses. I could come out here and say all the cliches, it was poor – every one of us.

“I feel we rely too much on wee Paul McMullan and Luke McCowan and if they’re not at it then it’s like, we go through the motions. On the other side of it we don’t do the basics and are not fighting for each other.

“Even when we got beat at Aberdeen we were fighting for each other, out there we seemed quiet and it’s a hard one to take.”