Gary Bowyer is demanding more from his Dundee team after suffering a third defeat of the season on Saturday.
Focus has already switched to cup duties on Friday night as the Dark Blues make the unusual journey south of the border in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
Dundee were drawn away to Welsh champions The New Saints in round three.
The clash at Park Hall in Oswestry, Shropshire, will be the club’s first competitive match outside Scotland since they travelled to face Perugia in the UEFA Cup in 2003.
‘I want better’
Bowyer is fully aware of the challenge ahead with TNS having registered a victory in the Champions League qualifying stages this season.
They were eventually overcome by Linfield 2-1 before Vikingur of Iceland knocked them out of the Europa Conference League qualifiers 2-0 in July.
However, having seen his Dark Blues lose 3-2 to Partick Thistle, 3-1 to Ayr United and 3-2 to Inverness, Bowyer has tasked his side with tightening things up at the back.
“I still think we are a team that is a work in progress but I want more, I want better,” the Dens boss said.
“The three games we have lost, we conceded three goals each time and the opposition haven’t had to work very, very hard for them which is the disappointing thing.
“We have spoken to the players about that this week.
“But we can’t just point the finger at one end of the pitch and say it’s down to that.
“The number of chances we have created in games, even ones we lost like the weekend, I’m not naïve enough to say ‘I don’t know how we lost that?’
“When you actually analyse it coldly, it’s because we haven’t converted the chances we created.”
How to sort out defence
How, though, does Bowyer go about sorting out the leaky backline?
Dundee have conceded 11 goals in the Championship this season with Cove Rangers the only side boasting a worse record after seven games.
There is still opportunity to bring in new faces, though the market for new signings is severely limited with only free agents and loans from the Premiership available.
Instead, Bowyer is looking for more from his current crop of defenders.
“I’ve gone through the goals we conceded on Saturday to see if there were any trends or patterns,” he added.
“Obviously, if there’s something alarming that jumps out you can either work on it or change personnel.
“It is a collective effort to work a lot harder in preventing the opposition scoring.
“In the games we have played, we haven’t been cut open or totally outplayed or tactically outfoxed by anyone.
“It’s been down to individual errors or sometimes you have to hold your hand up and say ‘what a wonderful strike’.
“To be fair to the lad Cameron Harper on Saturday, he produced two belters.
“That said we felt both could have been prevented in terms of getting to the ball quicker.
“We want to improve, we want to get better and we will look to do that on Friday.”
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