Mentality is says O’Dea

spells of good football — although in the last home game against Inverness we were poor on the ball — but the different side to it was I thought we were brilliant off the ball.

“Football’s a two-way game and we’ve been doing a lot of good things off the ball lately.”

In the defeat to Kilmarnock on Saturday, Dundee didn’t hit the heights they have of late, either on the ball or off it.

And for O’Dea, the level of workrate the Dark Blues had in the matches running up to the Rugby Park encounter is something the whole team will have to bring back.

And, for Dundee, this Saturday at home to Ross County — a side who have been able to find the net regularly lately with nine scored in their last five matches — being able to rediscovering those miserly defensive displays will be a major factor in finding their recent good form.

Not just for the defenders, though.

A clean sheet is the goal for any defence but the Dark Blues’ ability to be hard to beat and keep teams out has been a source of pride for the whole team.

O’Dea added: “Clean sheets as a defender and goalkeepers, too, take massive pride in that.

“But our forwards and midfielders should take just as much pride because the work done in front of us has been phenomenal over the past few weeks.”

at Kilmarnock — something the Dundee defender is determined to correct this weekend with another home win.