McCann sounds the call for local heroes
And Dundee boss wants a cup final slot too
THERE are very few people who can match Neil McCann’s experience when it comes to Scottish football’s biggest local derbies.
Starting out at Dundee as a young winger, he cut his teeth in the often-colourful City of Discovery fixture against Dundee United.
A move to Hearts then saw McCann sample the ferocity of the Edinburgh rivalry with Hibernian.
But the most hostile fixture of his playing career was the Old Firm clash enjoyed during five successful years at Rangers.
Now back on Tayside as boss of Dundee, the 42-year-old is desperate to secure the local bragging rights in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup.
Not least because United left Dens Park with a victory on penalty kicks in the group stage of the same competition last month.
However, McCann insists that his overriding motivation for a derby win tomorrow night is to try to secure a first cup final appearance for the Dark Blues since 2003.
‘I have played in all of the big derbies in Scotland — without being disrespectful to other ones — and if you do well in them, then the fans revere you,’ nodded the Dundee manager.
‘But, ultimately, it is about winning games — and if we win, it will get Dundee closer to a cup final. That’s how we are looking at it.
‘The rewards will come with beating our greatest rivals from across the street.
‘I felt there were lots of positives from the way we played against United in that first cup game. But there is lots of improvement still to come.
‘Our new boys have now had a taste of the derby and sampled the atmosphere. So it is not new to them anymore and that is good.
‘But we expect United to be stronger than in the last game.
‘And they will come here with belief after getting a good result at Inverness (a 1-0 victory in their Championship opener) at the weekend.’ Dundee look set to be without new Tunisian striker Sofien Moussa (below) after he picked up a knee injury in the defeat to Ross County on Saturday. McCann will give him every chance to make the derby, but the way he was hobbling about on crutches yesterday makes a recovery look unlikely. ‘We’re being overly protective of Sofien,’ said McCann. ‘He jarred his knee on Saturday and he felt some discomfort and didn’t want to continue. He got a bit of a fright. ‘We are hoping it is not as bad as first feared. The crutches are merely a precautionary measure and we will see how he is.
‘We are still really hopeful for Wednesday and we are taking all precautions. He is keeping the weight off it.’
Should Moussa not make it, McCann has striker Marcus Haber waiting in the wings.
The Dundee boss insists the Canadian has a future at Dens Park, despite not even making it on to the bench on Saturday.
‘Marcus was not in the plans at the weekend because I pick the side that I think is good enough to get us results,’ said McCann, who confirmed that out-of-contract former Inverness defender Josh Meekings is still training with Dundee as he recovers from injury.
‘Marcus found himself out of the squad. But if Moussa does not make it on Wednesday, then Marcus will come into the equation as we would be a striker down.
‘He has a contract at Dens Park, so he has a future at the club and until that changes he will be here.’
Tomorrow night’s derby will be played to a finish, with penaltykicks again if necessary.
Despite the disappointment of a losing league start, McCann says his side have already shown they are ready and able to take matches right down to the wire.
‘I mentioned to the players that we have finished strongly in our last two games, against United and Ross County,’ said the former Scotland international.
‘That is a tough quality to get into a side as teams can go under (when they fall behind).
‘A team can sometimes get put under pressure and disappear.
‘But in the League Cup, we lost a late equaliser against Raith Rovers and we didn’t simply accept it. We went down the park and got a winner.
‘Then against Dundee United, we were a goal behind, but we eventually came within a width of the post of winning the game. We were forcing the issue.
‘And in the Ross County game, we lost our focal point when Moussa went off.
‘County are a physical side, but, still, we were unlucky not to snatch something from the game.
‘That tells me that there is a wee bit of grit about us, regardless if we are not playing well.
‘We do not give up hope in matches and that is really pleasing.’
“A win gets us closer to a final. That’s how we are looking at it”