Sets sights on title after Dee’s win over Jambos CHAMPION AT THE BIT
McGhee
JORDAN McGHEE admits the Dundee players knew their Championship title dreams were on the line against Hearts on Saturday night.
Prior to kick-off, the Dark Blues were sitting eight points adrift of the table-topping Jam Tarts who also have a game in hand.
Hearts had thrashed Dundee 6-2 on the opening day of the league campaign back in October at Tynecastle but this time at Dens, with the talismanic Charlie Adam pulling the strings, James McPake’s men turned the tables to pull off a stunning victory.
McGhee opened the scoring with a bullet header and the former Jambos player admitted everyone at Dundee knew exactly what was at stake in the crunch clash.
The 24-year-old said: “In terms of aspirations to win the league, of course. We couldn’t afford to lose or drop any more ground on Hearts.
“We always knew it was a big game but we believe in ourselves and we knew if we could put in that sort of
NEIL ROBERTSON AT DENS PARK
performance that we would give anyone a game.
“It has happened at a great time against a good team. We need to keep doing it in every game and see where it takes us.
“Obviously we knew Hearts would be tough opponents but we have done really well in the last few games and we knew if we played the way we have been playing and doing the right things, we could get a decent result.”
McGhee’s first-half opener came courtesy of an inch-perfect cross from the inspirational Adam.
The former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder also provided the assist for his side’s second with striker Danny
Mullen sending a powerful header past Hearts keeper Craig Gordon.
The Jambos pulled a goal back through sub Andy Irving’s free-kick but the home side wrapped up the points with a late penalty from on-loan Celtic striker Jonathan Afolabi.
McGhee was delighted to open the scoring but felt the tone was set in just the first minute when team-mate Shaun Byrne flew into a tackle on Hearts skipper Steven Naismith.
The Dundee midfielder was booked for the challenge with Haarts boss Robbie Neilson raging afterwards that referee Don Robertson should have flashed a red card.
However, McGhee insisted the tackle showed just how much Dundee were up for the game.
He said: “It happens a lot in this league – teams try to do it to us as well. It is part and parcel of the game and you see it all over the world, players trying to set the tone in the first five minutes.
“There is no better way to do that and if the fans were in here it would have got every single one of them on their feet. “So it was definitely a marker set.” Dundee were thirsting for revenge after their earlier humiliation by Hearts in Gorgie. McGhee said: “It was a bitter pill to swallow and it still hurts. But this win takes a little bit of the edge off. “We won’t get carried away. It is a big result for us but there are still a lot of games to play and we just have to keep trying to churn out three points every week.” Dundee are now six games unbeaten and have won their last three matches. McGhee knows where that winning habit can take a team - just like neighbours Dundee United showed last season. He said: “It is key in this league when you get consistency. “You saw Dundee United last season, they were consistent for the full campaign. “If you can go five or six unbeaten games, you know you will be up there.” Meanwhile, Hearts goal scorer Irving denied any suggestion that complacency had Jordan was thrilled crept in due to his team’s lead at top of the Championship.
And the 20-year-old insisted the Gorgie club would bounce back strongly from this setback just like they did after their only other Championship loss of the season against Dunfermline in November.
Irving said: “No complacency has crept in – not at all.
“The squad’s very professional and we have got a lot of players who have played at a very high level who are experienced. I don’t think it’s any complacency. It was just an off-day.”
“The Championship is a tough league – 100 per cent.
“You come to places like Dundee and even when teams come to Tynecastle they’re not going to make it easy for us when we can just turn up and play.
“We have to do the dirty side as well especially as the pitches at this moment in time aren’t fantastic.
“We reacted well from our defeat at Dunfermline so now we need to react well from this and go on another winning run.”