Dundee boss Gary Bowyer has made clear he won’t suffer the same “passive” approach from his team as they showed against Partick Thistle.
The Dark Blues are back at Dens Park on Friday night as last season’s Championship runners-up come to visit in the shape of Arbroath.
After an overwhelmingly positive Premier Sports Cup campaign, around 5,000 home fans turned up to see what all the fuss was about on the Championship’s opening day.
They left disappointed after a limp first half led to a 3-2 defeat by Thistle.
That didn’t stop a bumper away following travelling to Kirkcaldy last weekend as Dundee got over that disappointment quickly by beating Raith Rovers 1-0.
Pressing
The display at Stark’s Park was distinctly different from the one that saw the Jags romp into a three-goal lead.
The youthful Dundee side were full of energy as they chased down Rovers and that’s what Bowyer is determined to drill into his squad.
“We pressed well in pre-season and it was alarming against Partick Thistle how passive we were,” Bowyer said.
“We showed that to the players and said ‘this is not us’.
“This is what we expect and demand.
“Credit to the players, they went and did something about it (against Raith Rovers).
“That’s what we want from everybody, there are demands we place on the group.
“It’s about coping with those demands in this league and I think we’ve got a squad that has the physical capabilities to cope with it.”
‘One-off’
He added: “The manner in which we won really pleased me. We didn’t play as well as we could have, we didn’t play as well as we did in that second half against Partick Thistle.
“We weren’t as fluid as we’d like but we dug in, got on with it and came through.
“After conceding three goals, coming through that was important.
“We are working to make sure the Partick game was a one-off.”
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