Mcintyre urges his Dundee players to take risks but insists basement battle is not a defining game
DUNDEE
V ST MIRREN
Dundee manager Jim Mcintyre has urged his players to be brave and take risks in their basement battle with St Mirren.
Both sides have been cut adrift of the rest of the Ladbrokes Premiership in recent games as two new managers strive to turn around fortunes.
Dundee – who sit bottom with three points – have yet to score or gain a point in four games under Mcintyre, while Oran Kearney has suffered seven straight defeats since picking up a point in his first match as St Mirren manager.
Mcintyre knows the stakes are high and wants his players to gamble in the attacking areas.
“I think it will probably be quite nervy with the position of both sides, but we will try and free the players up to go and play,” Mcintyre said. “It’s important that they take risks, especially in the last third of the park, and be brave and try to work their goalkeeper, give our fans something to get off their seats about, make sure there is plenty of action in their box, and if we can do that then there’s a good chance we will win the game.
“It’s important we perform by playing with our heads. Don’t try and win the game in the first five minutes, you have 90 minutes to win a game. We have got to stay calm and stay focused on our work and how we have prepared all week.”
Mcintyre stressed the rewards of winning the game rather than fearing the consequences of losing.
“It’s another opportunity for us to get off the foot of the table, and that’s the way we are approaching it – concentrate on winning the game,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s a defining game this early. It’s a very important game, we just want to make sure we win it.
“There’s so much football to be played after this game. If we were to win that doesn’t mean to say that everything is just going to click into place, there’s still a lot of hard work ahead.”
Ryan Edwards wants St Mirren to play like they did against Celtic and Rangers.
The Buddies carved out a goalless draw against Celtic in Kearney’s first game as manager following the departure of Alan Stubbs. The 24-yearold Australia attacker, on loan from Hearts, noted that the Paisley side also played well against Rangers last week, despite going down 2-0 to the Ibrox men.
He said: “Looking at our two really good performances for the whole 90 minutes since the new manager has come in, [they were] against the Old Firm. If we can bring that level of performance to every team we play against, starting with Dundee on Saturday, it will help us massively.”