James McPake was full of praise for his Dundee players after they showed the “character” he was looking for in the wake of their Dens Park collapse against Partick Thistle.
The challenge laid down to the Dens Park men was to stop more points being frittered away from a commanding position and that was what they did at Somerset Park by refusing to let a 2-1 lead evaporate in the second half of a physically demanding contest.
“I’m proud of my players,” said McPake.
“I’m proud of the way we played and the way we battled. I thought we showed real character.
“Late on against Partick last Saturday I felt we were hanging on and something was going to happen.
“Tonight I felt very comfortable late on.
“I couldn’t have asked for any more from my players than I got tonight.
“It was déjà vu in a way, holding on to a lead. Do they start thinking back to Saturday?
“The question was posed and we showed the character that I know they’ve got. I signed most of those players.
“I’m still looking for performances and it was the performance that got us the result.
“This is one of the toughest places to come in this league and we stood up well.
“We had a wee blip on Saturday but we need to make sure there aren’t too many of those because we want to get out of this league.”
Declan McDaid and Paul McGowan got the goals but McPake also gave Kane Hemmings a name-check.
He said: “We were hard to beat but we were a threat as well. I thought the hold-up play of Kane Hemmings was excellent.
“The Ayr centre-backs didn’t enjoy playing against him. His goals will come but he’s a real outlet for us at places like this.”
