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.

5 Dundee talking points as Dee earn slice of redemption at Pittodrie

The Dark Blues sealed their place in the Premiership's top half to end a bruising week on a high.

Joe Shaughnessy celebrates at full-time. Image: SNS
Dundee FC skipper Joe Shaughnessy celebrates as the Dark Blues secure a top six finish last season. Image: SNS

Dundee will finish this season as one of the top six sides in Scotland.

The celebrations at Pittodrie were testament to the team built by Tony Docherty and the work put in by those players.

The 0-0 draw at Aberdeen may not have been the most exciting of contests.

But it got the job done.

And Dundee’s total of 40 points is already enough to secure a top-half finish with one game still to play.

Courier Sport was there to analyse all the action.

Game

This was a match that Dundee really should have won.

With the wind behind them first half, Aberdeen started well and Duk was a real handful – three Dundee players were booked within 23 minutes, all for fouls on the winger.

Duk was a handful for Dundee – Dara Costelloe earned a yellow card for this tackle. Image: Shutterstock

Within 15 minutes, Docherty had changed his formation. Gone was the familiar 3-5-2, changed to a 4-5-1 that could become 4-3-3 in attack.

That seemed to settle the visitors and they came into the game, finishing the half with the best effort so far as a tidy passing move eventually found Lyall Cameron. His fine strike clipped the bar.

Second-half, though, they were knocking on the door. Harder and harder.

Cameron had one blocked on the line, Curtis Main had a goal disallowed for a questionable offside and there were a few other moments that on another day go their way.

Curtis Main thinks he's opened the scoring but the offside flag went up. Image: Shutterstock
Curtis Main thinks he’s opened the scoring but the offside flag went up. Image: Shutterstock

News emerged in the stands that Motherwell had indeed equalised against Hibs – what a goal it was too – and suddenly Dundee changed tack.

Immediately it was a case of getting the ball into the corner and defensive reinforcements were on.

It did the trick as the Dark Blues earned their top-six place.

Top six

Dundee’s main goal this season was to stay up, an objective any newly-promoted side would have.

Now they are 100% guaranteed Premiership football next season.

The celebrations at Pittodrie showed just what an achievement it is for the club.

Dundee fans and Michael Mellon at full-time. Image: Shutterstock

No doubt added to by the bruising week of mud-slinging about the state of the Dens Park pitch.

Much of that has been over the top, particularly the angry Rangers statement.

Simon Jordan ended up being the level-headed voice in the crowd, which is a very strange thing to write.

The players insist all that furore had no effect on them but it must have. Their club was under fire and it’s difficult to detach from that.

But they were able to have some fun with it at full-time – Luke McCowan donning some blue goggles in a cheeky dig at all the coverage of their waterlogged pitch.

Luke McCowan with dark blue goggles on – will he need them on Wednesday?! Image: Shutterstock

That moment at the final whistle was not only a celebration of a job well done across an entire season but also a slice of redemption for Dundee Football Club after a tough old week.

The SPFL no doubt breathed a sigh of relief, too, when the Dee clinched their spot and eased their headache over ‘sporting integrity’.

Tony Docherty

The choice of manager was a surprise one for many.

Docherty had been a long-time assistant of Derek McInnes but had also worked with Dee technical director Gordon Strachan with Scotland.

He’d been a No 2 so long, it was assumed that’s where he was going to stay.

Manager Tony Docherty celebrates with players and fans at Pittodrie. Image: Shutterstock
Manager Tony Docherty celebrates with players and fans at Pittodrie. Image: Shutterstock

Nope. He fancied taking the plunge as a manager in his own right and boy has it paid off for the Dark Blues.

Docherty has been backed but the crucial thing is he’s used that backing to real effect.

John Nelms has said after almost every promotion that he wants the club to be in the top six.

However, it’s unlikely that was an expectation in Docherty’s first campaign. He’s over-achieved with this team and the foundations laid bode well for the future.

Lyall Cameron

Cameron was the best player on the park at Pittodrie. By a distance.

He came closest to breaking the deadlock and is fast developing into a fine Premiership player.

His passing is always on point – Cameron has the best passing accuracy in the entire Dundee squad.

Lyall Cameron salutes the travelling Dundee fans at full-time. Image: Shutterstock
Lyall Cameron salutes the travelling Dundee fans at full-time. Image: Shutterstock

For a playmaker tasked with creating opportunities by taking on more difficult passes, 80% passing accuracy is impressive.

Next on the list is Malachi Boateng on 77%, ahead of Josh Mulligan on 76%.

Cameron is now one of the first names on the team sheet.

Europe?

Dundee can’t finish below sixth now. They can finish higher, though.

St Mirren’s form has been poor – one point picked up from the last 12 available.

Jordan McGhee leads celebrations at Pittodrie. Image: SNS

And the Dark Blues are now only three points behind the Buddies in fifth.

That position is likely to earn a place in the Europa Conference League next term, unless Aberdeen go on and win the Scottish Cup.

The European spot for winning the cup transfers to the Premiership’s fifth-placed team if the winner has already qualified for Europe, which Rangers, Celtic and Hearts have done.

Paul Hartley, Jim Duffy and Ivano Bonetti all took Dundee into the top six – they haven’t finished fifth since 1999 under Jocky Scott, though.

Fifth is very much on now…

Conversation