Docherty buoyed by performance despite loss

DUNDEE boss Tony Docherty lavished praise on his charges and said they gave Celtic one hell of a scare at Dens Park.

The Taysiders went down 2-1 in the end to Brendan Rodgers’ side owing to an inspired James Forrest double but Antonio Portales’ deflected strike on 77 minutes ensured a nervy finish for the champions

Docherty, who was serving a one-match ban after accumulating four yellow cards, was impressed by what he saw from the stands.

He believes his men can still defy the odds and qualify for European football come May after he claimed his side hit Celtic with the most shots they have faced domestically all season.

Docherty said: “Someone just told me the stat – it’s the most shots on target Celtic have faced all season. It speaks for itself, that statistic. I am hugely proud of the players and their level of performance. Those stats speak for themselves, there’s a wee feeling we could have got something from the game but the overriding feeling and what I’ve said to the players is that nothing changes today in terms of league standings with St Mirren’s result but what does change for me is the belief that the players have. It must go up after that performance.

“I think there is a shift there in terms of the promotion and belief within the squad in terms of achieving European football. We showed great spirit to go and get the next goal. We went to a front two and tried to force the issue. You can see the synergy between the players and fans and sitting up in the stands today I could see a really good team executing a game plan and working hard for one another.

“We just fell a bit short. I don’t want them ever to be happy in defeat but we can take a lot of satisfaction from the performance. It just instils more belief in the players.

“We have four games to go and I keep seeing levels of improvement and development in my team. I saw it in spades today. We are rubbing our hands waiting for these next four games to come.

“I’ve seen us going toe to toe and you know the results and the performances we’ve had against Celtic this season. I’m sure Brendan Rodgers would admit, they knew they were in a game today and even Joe Hart was booked for time-wasting.”