Tony Docherty insists his Dundee side were well worth their three points after a 1-0 win over Hearts earned a first Premiership victory of the season.
Luke McCowan scored the screamer but it was “human error” who got the assist after a pre-match mishap with the team sheets.
The Dark Blues announced a starting XI with Josh Mulligan in midfield. However, team lines submitted to referee Alan Muir had McCowan in his place.
Mulligan may have been the original plan but it was McCowan who started.
And he made the most of it, lobbing Zander Clark from 30 yards for the only goal of the game and earning the Man of the Match award.
“It doesn’t surprise me with Luke,” Docherty said post-match.
“He did it against Fleetwood in pre-season, actually from further out.
“At the time I’m telling him to pass but I remembered he’d done it before.
“He’s a good player and typifies the type of player we have here.
“I’m really pleased for him but more for the squad because they got their rewards for all their hard work.”
Error
So what happened with the team sheets?
“There was something happened before the game. Human error you put it down to,” Docherty explained, denying there was any dispute between the two teams before kick-off.
“But it just shows the strength of the squad because it was similar to the Motherwell game where we had Antonio Portales go off injured really early. We had to re-jig it there.
“That’s what I’m trying to build here so that regardless of anything that crops up we can deal with it.”
Reward
McCowan’s quality made the difference in the end. However, it was dogged defending that got Docherty’s Dundee over the line.
At times bodies were flying in to block shots and heads were in where it hurts.
But the Dens boss insists three points was well-deserved with a clean sheet to boot.
“I’m absolutely delighted and it’s no more than the players deserve. They’ve put a lot of hard work on the training ground over the past couple of weeks,” Docherty added.
“We had a gameplan and I thought the players carried that out to the letter.
“I thought we were worthy of the win. We had a disallowed goal, a couple of really good opportunities to add to our goal and Trevor Carson only really had one save to make.
“So against a really good Hearts team, they are top quality, the players deserve massive credit.
“I see the development and improvement in the squad every day and I’m delighted they’ve been rewarded.
“It’s a big three points for us but that’s all it is.
“We move onto the next one now.”
More incoming?
After signing on Friday night, Mo Sylla made his debut off the bench as Dundee endeavoured to see out the game.
Ricki Lamie was also on the bench after agreeing a loan move from Motherwell on Saturday.
That takes summer signings to 14, including the quickly departed Jon McCracken.
Docherty, though, is still on the lookout for more ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.
“Hopefully one or two before the end of the week,” he added.
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