Dundee boss Tony Docherty on Owen Beck and Dee international stars: ‘That’s the kind of club we want to be’

Tony Docherty wants to see more and more Dundee players earning international recognition.

Creating an environment that allows footballers to realise their ambitions is the desire at Dens Park.

With four players away on international duty this week, that plan is already off to a strong beginning.

Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan were both trusted to start for Scotland U/21s in a tough qualifier away to Spain.

Mulligan played 67 minutes while Cameron came off in stoppage time during the narrow defeat in Jaen.

That was after Amadou Bakayoko capped his recall to the Sierra Leone squad with a goal against Guinea-Bissau.

Excellent

Also away was Owen Beck on U/21 duty and he started for Wales as they won 3-2 in Lithuania on Tuesday.

That was his 12th cap at that level. There was, though, a first for him this time around.

“Owen has been training with the senior team while he’s been away so that’s another step forward in his career,” Dens boss Tony Docherty revealed.

“We have been really pleased with him so far, he’s been excellent for us.

“You don’t sign a four-year deal with Liverpool unless you’ve got something about you.

“He still has parts of his game he needs to work on and that’s why Liverpool have sent him here for the season.

“I’ve got experience of helping players like that in the past; James Maddison, Ryan Christie, Max Lowe, Luke Chambers at Kilmarnock.

“And so does Stan (assistant manager Stuart Taylor), so we think he’s in a good place to learn and develop.

“Owen will do that because he’s such a willing learner and a real good professional.

“He is very conscientious about his career and is eager to use every experience he gets with us to help him going forward.”

‘Kind of club we want to be’

Part of that is the desire to make an impact at international level.

Just as his team-mates have done.

“It’s great to have players away on international duty,” Docherty added.

“That’s the kind of club we want to be. Seeing Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan in the U/21s can inspire the rest of our young players to aim for that too.

“Then you have Amadou Bakayoko playing for Sierra Leone, so it shows that coming to Dundee and doing well gets you that recognition.

“We want to build on that and hopefully in future international breaks we’ll have players away representing their countries.”