James Vincent admits consistency will be key if Dundee are to hoist themselves away from the Premiership danger zone and into the top six.
The Dark Blues travelled to Firhill on Wednesday night to face Partick Thistle in confident frame of mind following last Friday’s dramatic comeback from two goals down to beat Hearts.
Once again they went two behind against the Jags but this time, there was to be no way back for Paul Hartley’s side and they now find themselves in ninth place in the table.
The Premiership still remains incredibly tight and Vincent is now looking for Dundee to hopefully climb the league once more before the winter break by beating St Johnstone at Dens on Saturday.
The 27-year-old midfielder said: “It is still for everyone about finding that consistency.
“No-one is really pulling away. I know that Partick have had two wins on the bounce now and find themselves in the top six. That’s what we need.
“We had that consistency and we pulled ourselves from the bottom of the league but now we need to find it again to really push on for the top six.
“But it is all about finding it.”
Vincent added: “I think it is important that we end on a win before the break.
“The lads will go away with their heads feeling better. It can push you up the league again.
“One win is taking you up two or three spaces at the moment.
“So if we can get that then it will be good going into the break.”
While Dundee received plenty of plaudits for the way they battled back to beat Hearts, Vincent is fully aware they simply cannot afford to continue giving teams two goals of a start.
He said: “No, you are right. We showed we could do it (against Hearts) and the lads were brilliant coming back from that but we know we need to start games better.
“The first goal is always crucial as was shown against Partick.
“It gave them a bit more confidence, they were relaxed and were playing good stuff in the first-half so we need to start games a bit better, be on the front foot, create more chances and get that first goal.
“We have shown in previous games we are difficult to break down and hard to beat but the first goal is crucial.
“We are disappointed as we didn’t feel there was a lot in the game.
“They were more clinical than us and took their chances so fair play to them.
“I think if we had created a bit more in the final third we could have got something from the game.
“We got into the game a bit more in the second-half, starting to play a bit more football.
“We weren’t going as direct and credit to the lads, we started playing and creating chances but like I said, we just need to be more clinical putting the ball into the back of the net to give us something to work on.”
Meanwhile, Mark O’Hara, who was absent from the Dundee squad at Firhill, was withdrawn as a precaution after suffering a slight groin problem in training.