Defiant Dundee boss Barry Smith has maintained he will not let players’ heads drop as the club continues its battle against relegation.
St Mirren’s draw up at Aberdeen on Saturday coupled with Dundee’s loss at home to Ross County the previous evening means the Dark Blues are now 15 points from safety and staring life back in the First Division next season squarely in the face.
But Smith insists his squad have not given up hope of clawing back that deficit and will head to Pittodrie on Friday in a positive frame of mind.
“If they are sitting there feeling sorry for themselves they are going to make it more difficult for themselves,” Smith told Courier Sport.
“It’s just a case of dusting themselves down and getting ready for Friday’s game. I’ll not allow them to feel sorry for themselves and drop standards, no matter what.
“The one thing that I can’t criticise the boys for is working hard because they’ve worked hard.
“They’ve given everything that they’ve got so I’ll never criticise them for that, but we’re just lacking a wee bit in front of goal and obviously switching off at certain times.
“I’ll not criticise them for their work ethic.”
The rumour mill around Dens Park went into overdrive again after Friday night’s 2-0 loss to Ross County, with some supporters suggesting Smith should be sacked.
However, the manager is firmly focused on turning things around perhaps borne out by his presence at Pittodrie on Saturday to see this week’s opponents Aberdeen in action.
“It’s a game that the players should look forward to now,” he commented. For all it was a disappointing performance and result on Friday there, the previous performance was a good performance. But we’ve just had too many ups and downs.
“Now we must look to the Aberdeen game and look to perform.”
Smith also revealed the operation on skipper Stephen O’Donnell’s knee last week proved successful, although the 29-year-old midfielder is facing around nine months of recovery time on the sidelines.
O’Donnell suffered a torn cruciate ligament last month just weeks after returning from injury but Smith added: “Everything went well (with the op), which is good for him.
“He’ll just be setting goals for himself it’s not a case of looking nine months down the line. He’ll be setting targets within that to hit so he’s back in the right time frame.”
The SPL confirmed that Dundee’s home game against St Mirren, scheduled to be played on Tuesday, March 5, will now be played on Wednesday, March 6, with a 7.45pm kick-off.
csmith@thecourier.co.uk