Dark Blues toughen up
DUNDEE Paul Hartley’s side are determined to show today’s visitors they are no longer a soft touch, discovers Euan McArthur
DUNDEE are ready to show Aberdeen today they have ditched their soft touch tag, says Julen Etxabeguren. The Dark Blues were told to toughen up recently by boss Paul Hartley after losing too many goals which led to them taking action by signing French defender Kevin Gomis.
Since then, the Tayside outfit have gone some way to changing the view they are a side who will hand the opposition gifts as they bid to win a place back in the top six this season.
Etxabeguren, 25, admits he has had to change his own game and insists a collective will to stiffen their rearguard in recent weeks is paying off ahead of today’s visit of the Dons in the televised lunchtime match.
The Spaniard said: “It was something we had to improve on. It’s not just the defenders’ work. It’s the job of the whole team.
“Everyone has been working really hard on that side of things and you can see that in matches with the way we’re not giving away as many goals.
“Everyone is helping and we can see the results. Hopefully it continues like this making a real effort.”
Etxabeguren admires Derek McIness’ side, who have earned a reputation for being masters at grinding out victories, and the Dundee defender sees no reason why Hartley’s hopefuls cannot take a leaf out of the Pittodrie side’s book.
“If we don’t concede any goals then we will be close to winning a lot of games,” he said. “Aberdeen are good at that, so maybe we could learn a bit from them.
“We are in a league where some scores are very tight, so keeping things tight at the back is crucial.”
Etxabeguren is set to return to the heart of the defence today as Frenchman Gomis is suspended while skipper Darren O’Dea is striving to shake off a foot injury. The former Real Sociedad B star is itching to go again and is sure he won’t let the side down in front of the TV cameras.
He said: “It’s a chance for me. As a player, you have to be ready. I have to take that opportunity whenever it comes my way. I train hard every day to show the gaffer that I am ready.”
Dundee are in the thick of a testing run of Premiership fixtures with a trip to Inverness to follow today’s game, before hosting as we are high-flying Celtic and then travelling to take on Hearts.
It has the potential to kick-start their season but Etxabeguren is refusing to look too far ahead for fear of being tripped up. He said: “There are some amazing games coming up. There’s lots to look forward to but we have to focus on the first one coming up which is Aberdeen. We shouldn’t look any further ahead than that.
“Hopefully a positive result can send us into the rest of them with confidence.
“Aberdeen are always hard opponents. They have good strikers as well as being difficult to break down. But we are ready for it. We have a good team ourselves so will focus on our own strengths.
“It’s a big game. It’s one I’m really looking forward to. These are the sort of fixtures I joined Dundee for in the first place, to test myself against the best. We have to be positive and go into the game looking to take all three points.”
Dundee have been held to draws three times in the league this season but Etxabeguren is convinced they will start flying once they find the all-important winning formula.
He said: “It’s a mentality thing, trying to turn draws into wins.”