Steven Doris has reiterated his manager’s assertion that the Dundee players simply have to cope better with the burden of expectation of playing in front of their own fans at Dens.
The striker was handed his first start for the Dark Blues since September against Raith Rovers on Tuesday night but while he was delighted to be back, it soon became a game to forget.
Paul Hartley’s team produced a lacklustre performance as they drew 0-0 with the Kirkcaldy side in front of 4,561 supporters, with the vast majority of the fans venting their frustration at their favourites’ disappointing display.
That led to the manager calling for his players to be braver.
The result still meant that Dundee have edged one point clear of nearest challengers Hamilton in the Championship title race but Doris said they should be doing a lot better at home.
Doris said: “When we’re on top and the fans are behind us, we’re a different team. There’s a bit of pressure there but we should be able to cope with that.
“We’ve all played in important games and should be dealing with it better.
“After our first-half performance, I can see their point with being frustrated.
“Everybody was poor and we were terrible in the opening 45. We should be playing better than that.”
Doris has endured a frustrating time since he joined Dundee in the summer, and even when he was loaned out to former club Arbroath in December by former boss John Brown he suffered a stomach injury that led to a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
However, the 25-year-old is hoping to finish the season strongly and keep his place in the starting XI.
Doris said: “It was good to get myself back and into the team. I’ve been out for three months so that was my first 60 minutes.
“I had 25 minutes the week before and have had 45 minutes playing for the reserves as well. So I just want to do as well as possible and keep myself in the team.
“But obviously it was a very frustrating night. We never came out the blocks in the first half and were poor. We were better in the second half but it’s still not the kind of result we’re looking for on our home ground. We should expect to win here.”
Dundee are on their travels for their next vital league game at Dumbarton’s Bet Butler Stadium on Saturday.
Doris is aware that the Dark Blues cannot afford many more slip-ups with just eight games of the season remaining and while Ian Murray’s Sons are one of the form teams in the division, having scored 51 goals in total in the league nine more than Dundee he insists that if his side play to their potential, they can get back to winning ways.
Doris said: “We’ve definitely got to bounce back strongly on Saturday.
“We’re still top of the league and we’ve got a one-point lead.
“Hopefully we can kick on come Saturday down at Dumbarton.
“We won down there the last time we played them but now they are on form, scoring goals for the fun.
“Their lad Chris Kane, on loan from St Johnstone, is doing well but they have good players throughout their team.
“However, if we can keep another clean sheet hopefully we can do the business at the other end.
“If we can get back to our best, then we should win.”