Dundee’s fourth 0-0 draw of the season was a welcome relief to the rain of Livingston goals in the previous match.
Mark McGhee earned his first point as Dark Blues boss in his third match in charge and was pleased with the defensive showing from his side.
He described it as a “first step” toward safety and the defensive solidity was night and day from the ease with which Livi sauntered through the Dens defence.
McGhee certainly took a lot from the performance but what can we take from the Hibs stalemate?
Experience counts
There were big changes to the starting XI from Saturday – five in total and a different formation, too.
The 3-5-2 setup was jettisoned for the 4-2-3-1 line-up we’re more accustomed to seeing this Dundee side set up in.
And the players looked more comfortable too.
Noticeable in dropping to the bench were the three players who watched Alan Forrest nip to the byline and set up the opener on Saturday.
But more obvious was the shift towards experience – Charlie Adam, Paul McGowan and Niall McGinn all came in.
They have 1,586 senior appearances between them and that counted for Dundee against Hibs.
Losing Adam to injury, though, is a big blow. Finding a way to win points without their talisman has been a major task for the Dark Blues this term, a problem they are yet to solve.
Lee Ashcroft
One man who was welcomed back with open arms was central defender Lee Ashcroft.
He came off the bench for the final 10 minutes after three months on the sidelines.
As expected the big defender looked a little rusty but being back on the pitch will have done him the world of good.
And having Ashcroft back in alongside Ryan Sweeney is a huge boost to Dundee’s defence.
Chance missed?
Playing 10 men for half-an-hour at home feels like an opportunity passed up by Dundee, especially with so few games remaining.
McGhee has made clear the target is 11th place and that is only one point away with a game in hand.
The Dark Blues, though, do need wins on the board and the lack of attacking progress against Hibs was worrying.
In fact, Shaun Maloney’s side had the better chances with 10 men than the 11 of Dundee managed.
Losing Adam was a factor in that as were the absences of Zak Rudden to relieve Danny Mullen late on and Luke McCowan to bring some energy off the bench with those two out with Covid.
Dundee only managed one shot on target in the 90 minutes, a weak header from Jordan McGhee in stoppage time.
To get wins, they need much more than that in the remaining matches.
McGhee says his team have made the “first step”, bringing more of an attacking threat has to be the next step.
