Mccann praises players’ work ethic as Dundee stop rot
DUNDEE KILMARNOCK
Dundee manager Neil Mccann insists his players are enjoying digging deep to haul themselves off the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Mccann’s side survived the late dismissal of skipper Darren O’dea for a second bookable offence against Kilmarnock to halt a fivegame losing run with a goalless draw at Dens Park. Dundee remain bottom of the table but Mccann is satisfied his players are giving everything to turn their season around and maintains that they are embracinghismethodswithnosmall measure of enthusiasm.
Mccann said: “I can’t ask for any more effort from the players. They are willing workers. I know they are giving me everything and during the double sessions in training you can see how determined they really are.
“This is an important point and gives us something to build on. It’s been a tough run of late but we’re all in this together and hopefully we can progress from here.”
0 Neil Mccann: Vital point. Meanwhile, Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke believes his side have mastered the art of being hard to beat on the road.
Killie have not lost away from home since August and Clarke has already led them to results at Celtic Park, Ibrox and Pittodrie.
Clarke, whose side hit the bar in injury-time through substitute Eamonn Brophy, said: “That’s six games away from home where we haven’t lost. It helps build confidence and it’s a decent record in itself.
“There’s a good shape about us just now and we are proving difficult to beat which is always a good thing to have.
“We know we can play better than we did here but it was a hard game and we now look forward to having Aberdeen at Rugby Park in our next game.” Gary Bollan picked up his first point as manager of Cowdenbeath as the Blue Brazil drew 1-1 with Annan at Central Park, however it was not enough to lift them off the bottom of League 2.
The former Livingston, Airdrie and Forfar boss is determined to inject some belief into the Fife squad and they took a step forward after coming back from a goal down.
Aidan Smith took advantage of a misjudged header from Jamie Pyper to fire Annan in front just before half-time, however Kyle Miller found the net from 25 yards to equalise with 20 minutes left.
Bollan said: “There is a lack of confidence but hopefully this is a sign that things are changing. We created plenty of chances but were not ruthless enough.
“It would have been terrific to win, and we probably deserved to, however we have shown spirit and picked up a point.”
Visiting manager Peter Murphy, who donned his boots for the first time in two months due to suspensions, said: “We were the better side in the first half and they were better than us in the second. A draw away from home against a team with a new manager in place is not the worst result.”