Tony Docherty wanted three things from his Dundee side as they faced eight-time Polish champions Lech Poznan.
The Dark Blues fought back after a tough first half to claim a 1-1 draw at the Railwaymen’s state-of-the-art academy stadium.
Poznan dangerman Mikael Ishak opened the scoring in a dominant first-half display before Dundee took control of the second period and equalised through new signing Seb Palmer-Houlden’s first goal for the club.
The draw finished off their pre-season training camp in Poland after beating Banik Ostrava 3-0 on Wednesday.
“I’m absolutely delighted, it was a brilliant team performance,” Docherty told Courier Sport in Poland.
“It’s been an excellent trip, I was waxing lyrical about our game against Banik Ostrava but I’m even more pleased with this one.
“We were playing against a real top-level opponent there who were in the quarter-final of a European trophy a couple of years ago.
“The pedigree of the club you could see with the venue and this was their academy. It’s a proper high standard club and we went toe-to-toe with them.
“You look at their team sheet and they have £6 million, £8 million pound players in there.
“There was a competitiveness in terms of the intensity and their quality as well.
“Everything I wanted to get out of the trip I’ve got, and more.”
Three things
He added: “Three things I wanted the team to show today was them to be competitive, to show an intensity and to demonstrate quality.
“I think they did all three things.
“We saw on Wednesday a quality opponent unravel a wee bit because we are a difficult opponent, we are hard to play against.
“It was screaming out from the players that they didn’t want to lose that game. We want to win games but to make sure we don’t lose that game is testament to the players.”
‘Worked his tail off’
Palmer-Houlden joined the club on a season-long loan from Bristol City last month.
And has shown his running ability in his early friendly outings. This time he showed his finishing ability with a fierce low effort that found the corner from 25 yards.
“Seb was brilliant, he worked his tail off. Everybody did,” Docherty said.
“Seb has shown that in training so we know he has that in him and I’m delighted for him to take his opportunity.
“He is among a strong, strong team performance there with everyone putting in every ounce of effort they had.”
‘Players buzz off that’
Dundee were followed to the small town of Wronki, 60km north west of the city of Poznan, by a boisterous group of fans.
A healthy home support turned up as well to cheer their side on with a good atmosphere at the Stadion Akademii.
“Again the punters are fantastic. I think they had a new song today ‘let’s all do the Poznan!’” Docherty added.
“I’m so pleased for them and we saw at the end of the match when the players go across you can see the relationship between them.
“That’s really important and, trust me, the players buzz off that.
“I’d like to thank the fans for spending their money and coming across because it is hugely appreciated by myself, the staff and the players.”
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