Dundee passed a stern test of mental strength in their League Cup victory over Motherwell says boss James McPake.
The Dark Blues came into the contest on the back of a 6-0 humbling at Celtic Park.
But there was no sign of any after-effects at Dens Park as they deservedly booked their place in the last eight thanks to Lee Ashcroft’s 78th minute header.
McPake hailed the bravery shown by his men in the hard-fought 1-0 victory.
He said: “When we rewind back a week ago, we lost six at Celtic.
“So you talk about character, you talk about resilience, you talk about people in there who will stand up and be counted.
“Well, I saw that in the dressing-room and that’s what pleased me the most.
“I think we had a few tests there.
“First one was, how do you bounce back from a real heavy defeat? I think they showed that, right from the off we were in their faces.
“Being on the front foot, getting after the ball.
“We go in front and the test then is, can we hold onto it?
“We showed real character, real bravery to keep playing.
“Their main chance was when they hit the bar and even that came from a bit of indecision from us.
“Lee Ashcroft got caught in two minds, got caught on the ball…but it’s irrelevant now and he got the winner for us.”
‘We dictated it’
Centre-back Ashcroft was the club’s Player of the Year in their promotion season, scoring seven times in all competitions.
And, once more, he showed his immense threat from set-plays as he got on the end of Paul McMullan’s corner delivery.
Dens boss McPake reckons that was just reward for the display from his side.
“We’ve had numerous chances,” McPake added.
“Jason Cummings, I think was a touch offside (for disallowed goal).
“But it was great play from Luke McCowan and Jordan McGhee, who I thought was fantastic, outstanding all day.
“He was very unlucky not to score, but he’s always in the box.
“I don’t know the corner count – was it the 15th we scored from? Again it’s showing positivity.
“For the last seven minutes they threw absolutely everything at us and we felt comfortable.
“We were never really under pressure.
“In my opinion, we controlled the game and dictated it.
“We limited them, if I’m being honest.”