The Dundee players will be absolutely gutted after Saturday.
I don’t want to rub any salt into wounds after giving away a two-goal lead at St Johnstone but they would’ve been fourth in the league and ahead of Rangers if they’d been able to hold on just a couple of minutes more.
The most frustrating thing was how much Dundee deserved to be 2-0 up, they’d been excellent.
And, with all respect, St Johnstone had offered nothing as an attacking side.
Saints were there for the taking and would have been left six points behind the Dee.
But failing to finish off big chances combined with some sloppiness at the back to prove costly.
Equaliser
The equaliser in particular wasn’t a good goal to lose.
Whether it was nerves in holding onto their lead, lack of experience or they just switched off, manager Tony Docherty won’t be happy with it.
I do wonder whether the amount of new players in the side contributed to that moment.
There has obviously been a lot of new players coming into the club and some bedding in to do.
For the most part, however, they’ve not looked like a team still to gel.
But finishing the game were three debutants and a player in Mo Sylla who had only made one sub appearance.
I’ve heard some fans point the finger at the manager for his substitutions but that’s always done with the benefit of hindsight – something the manager doesn’t have when he’s making these decisions.
They needed fresh legs with players tiring.
But, in my experience, there’s never a guarantee that any subbie will pay off in the way you want.
The number of new players, though, maybe just meant they lost their shape, nerves kicking in and composure lost in key moments.
It was a tough one to take for any Dee.
Dundee FC ‘a Premiership outfit’
Overall, though, I think the Dark Blues can be pretty happy with their start to the season so far.
They should have two more points on the board than they currently do but they’ve faced good sides already and looked every inch a Premiership outfit.
You look at them and St Johnstone, both have made lots of changes to their squad over the summer.
I’d be a lot more worried as a Saints fan than a Dundee supporter.
With a bit more luck across the four games so far, the Dark Blues could be sitting in the top three.
Harsh lesson
But it’s fine margins in the top flight and Dundee learned that lesson harshly at the weekend.
Now they’ve got two weeks to sit and stew over that frustration.
As a player, this is exactly the sort of situation where you want to get right back out there and put it right.
They can’t do that but they do have two weeks to prepare for a testing trip to Celtic.
That will be good to see where Dundee are at by taking on one of the Old Firm.
A tough test but not one that should be feared.
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