Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee star Luke McCowan lifts lid on free-kick training rivalry after super Livi strike

The 25-year-old's second goal of the season earned a crucial victory on Sunday.

Luke McCowan walks off after defeating Livingston. Image: SNS
Luke McCowan walks off after defeating Livingston. Image: SNS

Dundee’s free-kick school has a new star pupil.

Competition for the dead ball is fierce at Dens Park right now with a number of young players vying for the responsibility.

At the age of 25-years-old, Luke McCowan has seniority on his side.

Now, though, he’s got more than that to back up his credentials.

He’s got a first Premiership free-kick goal to enjoy after grabbing the winner from 25 yards against Livingston.

“I’ll be on them for at least another two tries. If I put the next two over the bar, I’m sure someone else will get on them!” McCowan joked.

“The boys have confidence in me, the same that I’d have confidence in them if they were stepping up to take them.

“It’s about knowing how good your team-mates can be at certain things.

“I’ve been raging that I don’t take more shots and get more goals and assists.

“But if I can come up with something like that then I’m happy.”

High standards

The quality of the strike came about through practice with McCowan revealing there’s a strong competition in training.

“I practice free-kicks every day. There are a few boys who do it,” he added.

“The one who hits the best ones through the week gets them on the weekend.

Luke McCowan curls a beauty of a free-kick into the top corner. Image: Shutterstock
Dundee’s Luke McCowan curls a beauty of a free-kick into the top corner. Image: Shutterstock

“It was a good angle and good distance for me. I was buzzing.

“There are other guys who take free-kicks but I don’t know if their standards are that high!

“Owen Beck has great deliveries and free-kicks. Malachi Boateng tries them and Lyall Cameron, too.

“If I put my authority down, I’m sure the boys will let me take them.”

Cliche

Sunday’s strike was McCowan’s second goal of the season and a second winner of the campaign after his long-range chip made the difference against Hearts.

That’s been six points picked up at home in those two instances, with nine of their 14 Premiership points coming at Dens Park.

After losing their unbeaten home record so poorly against Rangers last Wednesday, McCowan says it was crucial to rebuild fortress Dens.

He added: “Our home performances have got to be massive for us.

Dundee were well-beaten by Rangers last week. Image: Shutterstock
Dundee were well-beaten by Rangers last week. Image: Shutterstock

“I know it’s a cliche but we have to make this place a fortress.

“We want people coming here and hating how we play. We want them to be fearful of us and how we play.

“It’s about getting points every time we come here.

“There’s no reason we can’t do that and that’s why we were so frustrated on Wednesday (against Rangers).

“The boys were hurt after that. We know if we’re not at our absolute best against Celtic or Rangers, they can do that to you.

“Our performance wasn’t good enough. We knew we had to bounce back.

“We reacted well and now we move onto next week.”

Conversation