Dens boss McPake hits out at Cummings
DUNDEE manager James McPake described Jason Cummings’ decision to attend the Open Goal event on Thursday night without his permission as ‘completely unacceptable’.
The striker was left out of the squad for yesterday’s match at Dens Park that Hearts won 1-0, courtesy of a Jamie Walker strike.
Cummings, who was pictured with a beer in his hand at the show while dressed as The Joker, was said to be ‘unfit to train’ when he turned up at the club on Friday and will have his future settled at a disciplinary hearing tomorrow.
McPake said: ‘Jason will be away from the club until Monday and then we’ll deal with it internally. It’s something I’m not going to go into, but there’s enough social media and enough that I can’t deny it either.
‘People will make up their own minds as to why he’s not involved today, but it’s not down to injury or Covid. What he did on Thursday is completely unacceptable.
‘He was unfit to train on Friday, so do I regret my decision not to play him? No. He never asked me to go to the event and would I have allowed him to go? I didn’t get the chance to answer that.
‘I probably wouldn’t have because of where we are, but I didn’t get the courtesy of that — so there’s the first breach.
‘We are fighting and people like Alex Jakubiak are telling me they’re not ready but he’s willing to play. We had 11 players today and they all gave everything.
However, McPake was happy with the way his side battled in defeat.
‘I am proud of how the group have handled the last couple of days. It’s a game that I’m devastated to have lost,’ he said.
This was just Walker’s third league appearance of the season and he has been linked with a move away from Hearts next month.
But manager Robbie Neilson hopes the winger could be convinced to stay and play his part.
He said: ‘He’s a good player. He’s a Hearts man through and through. You know when you put Jamie on, he’s going to give you everything, so I’m just delighted for the kid.
‘He’s not played for a while and to get the winner in front of the Hearts fans is great. His future is a decision that me and Jamie need to come to.
‘I’d like to keep him, but I have to respect that the age he’s at, he needs to go and play.
‘We’ll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks. We’ll have a chat and see what he wants to do.’