Honesty the best policy for Dundee
SOME harsh words on the training ground inspired Dundee’s first win since the opening day of the season.
The Dark Blues’ victory came as a huge relief to manager Paul Hartley, who had encouraged his basement battlers to speak honestly and openly to one another about where they were going wrong.
Hartley said: “We’ve had a good week in terms of speaking about things.
“We were all brutally honest about how we performed after the defeat by Partick Thistle and said we’d fix it together.
“We’re going to fight every week. We’re going to fight every day in training.
“I don’t mean throw punches, it’s about having a real desire and attitude.
“It was a different Dundee team today, a team that wanted it.
“The attitude was great all over the pitch.”
The players’ relief at avoiding a seventh straight defeat was obvious at full-time.
Hartley and his men punched the air with delight and huddled in front of the travelling fans.
The manager went on: “At the end I just said to keep fighting like that every week.
“There’s a long way to go. We’ve had a bad first quarter but we’ve started the second quarter with a result. We’re still down there, we don’t want to be down there, but it shows my team has a little bit of guts.”
Hartley has been searching for someone to replicate the goal threat offered by Kane Hemmings last season.
Canadian Marus Haber, who scored twice in 31 games for St Johnstone four years ago, is the latest roll of the dice.
He looks short of fitness despite having recently played for his country but he did provide Dundee with a substantial target at the head of the attack.
The 27-year-old never stopped plugging away and still had the energy to make a darting run near the end and force Gary Woods into a decent save.
It looked like he got a slight touch on Paul McGowan’s net-bound shot but he was content to let the midfielder take all the credit for the goal.
“I’m not claiming it,” he said.
“I tried to get my heel on it but it went through to beat the keeper. I’m just delighted it went in.
“It wasn’t a game for the purist but we were successful in what we set out to do.
“There was commitment all over the field and that’s what we need to show every week.”
Dundee created three very decent chances before they broke the deadlock but failed to hit the target on each occasion.
It was a disappointing day for Accies, who should have been brimming with confidence following their midweek win over Aberdeen.
Things might have been different if Ali Crawford had scored with a chance within the first 30 seconds.
Hamilton boss Martin Canning said: “There’s no point in the players getting themselves up for Aberdeen, Celtic or Rangers coming here then letting Dundee leave with all three points.
“You’ve got to churn out a performance and set your own levels of consistency.
“Ultimately, that’s what moves players on from here to play at a higher level.”