Dundee star Lyall Cameron is far from the finished article, despite making his mark on the Premiership just 68 minutes into his top-flight debut.
That’s the view of the player himself as he targets a long and successful career in top-level football.
The 20-year-old already has a Championship winner’s medal hanging at home and described his dining room being full of Player of the Year accolades from last season.
But he’s ploughing a new furrow this term after playing a major role in promotion last season.
The talented youngster finished the campaign as the Dark Blues’ top scorer with 14 in all competitions.
And he’s started where he left off by notching a key first goal of the season as he headed in the equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
‘Gutted’
However, he’s not content with just one after seeing a later effort crash back off the post.
“One Premiership appearances, one goal sounds pretty good but I’d have preferred if it was one appearance, two goals,” he said.
“We were unlucky not to get the three points in the end, we had a good few chances and hit the post twice in the second half.
“Especially coming back from 1-0 down was good and the fans were right behind us. Hopefully we can keep that going.
🔙 Dundee's return to the top flight began with a 1-1 draw at home to Motherwell at a rather wet Dens Park! Here are the goals ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/HUFXpr30Fr
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 5, 2023
“In the Premiership it is small margins. Obviously it was a mistake that led to their goal and it is hard to get back level, they were trying to slow it down to see out the win.
“The conditions were terrible.
“The groundsmen did well to get the game on, they were shovelling the whole game in that corner.
“So it was good to get back into it and we had a few chances after to win the game.
“A bit gutted we didn’t but good to get a point.”
Lyall Cameron: ‘I can still add more to my game’
Since emerging as a first-team squad player at the start of last season following loans at Peterhead and Montrose, Cameron’s development has been clear to see.
Goals arrived in the League Cup and Challenge Cup before a first Dundee league goal at Hamilton in October 2022.
Now he’s on 15 in total in just 29 starts for the Dark Blues, making a further 18 substitute appearances.
But he wants more.
“I feel good,” he added.
“I like to keep relaxed and keep a level head.
“I scored a goal against Motherwell but I didn’t really impact it that much, I didn’t do too much in the game.
“I want to keep adding more to my performances. Keep the goals obviously!
“I know I can still add more to my game.
“Someone who can score goals from midfield is invaluable and I want to keep doing that.
“Obviously it’s not as easy in this league but I’ve showed on Saturday I can.
“And to score a header, not many people expect me to score headers but if you get in the right place at the right time you can.”
Young Dundee team an ‘advantage’
The 1-1 draw with Motherwell was a steady start to the season.
Dundee’s squad has seen major change over the summer with the arrival of new manager Tony Docherty.
Cameron accepts expectation from elsewhere won’t be high for a newly-promoted but he’s confident the young guns at Dens Park can surprise a few people.
He said: “We’re underdogs at the end of the day. People expect us to go back down and I can see why from previous years.
“But we have a strong squad and a good management team, you could see how much the fans were behind us on Saturday.
“We have a really good squad. We’re really young, probably the youngest in the league.
“You can say we’re inexperienced but we’re all hungry and want to win.
“That’s not a disadvantage, I’d say it can be an advantage.
“As long as the fans stay behind us we can keep putting on good performances.”
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