Dundee defender Gary Irvine says the gap between the Dark Blues and league leaders Ross County can still be closed.
The Dark Blues suffered a miserable Boxing Day, losing at home to Morton and slipping further behind the Staggies, who fought back in injury time to grab a draw at second-placed Falkirk.
It leaves the Dens men nine points adrift of County, who have a game in hand away to Ayr. The outlook may look bleak but Irvine insists there is still belief at the club.
“We are convinced we can still do it,” he said. “As a player, you should always think like that. It is not a huge gap and it is up to us to rectify things.
“But we don’t want the teams in front of us to get any further away. here are a couple of clubs above us (Falkirk are now three ahead of Dundee) so basically we need to stay within touching distance at the top.”
Losing to Morton was bad enough for the Dark Blues, who saw Matt Lockwood’s second-half penalty saved by keeper Dominic Cervi, but their day got worse when they found out the Bairns and County had finished in a stalemate.
Irvine said: “We were only interested in ourselves going into the game. We weren’t thinking about what was happening elsewhere, as that is not our style.
“But when you are coming off the pitch at the end to find out that County had drawn you realise it was a wee opportunity missed.
“Now it just makes us all the more determined to try to correct it in the coming weeks, starting with Raith Rovers in our next game.”
Irvine was at a loss to explain why Dundee failed to perform on Monday.
“It was disappointing, to say the least. We need to get back to doing what we were doing as soon as possible. That will be our aim first and foremost.”MacLean explains decisionMeanwhile, Harry MacLean has explained why he has left the club’s board for a second time. MacLean quit after the Morton game, just weeks after agreeing to go back in the wake of the resignation of former chairman Stuart Murphy.
He said: “In all honesty, it was a mistake to rejoin the board. If I had my time again, I wouldn’t have done it.
“The simple fact is I don’t feel I fit in with the committee model that the club is using to govern itself at the moment. As such, I feel the best decision for both myself and the board is for me to depart now.
“I am happy with the decision I have reached and, speaking as a supporter, I obviously hope to see the club enjoy a successful second half of the season.”