Dundee made short work of sorry Inverness as they finished off a record-breaking League Cup group stage in style.
The Dark Blues racked up the goals in Group D and added a further six to their already sizeable tally.
Four wins from four and 18 goals scored, Tony Docherty’s side ensured they were seeded in Sunday’s draw.
That set up a home tie against lower-league opposition in Airdrieonians, the side that defeat the Dee last season to eventually knock them out at the group stage last time.
It is still very, very early in the season and there remains key work to be done to improve the squad at Dens Park.
However, Dundee have given themselves the best chance of a deep run in a competition they have not reached the semi-final of in over 20 years.
They did so by blowing League One Caley Thistle away – Courier Sport was on hand at Brechin’s Glebe Park to analyse all the action.
Too good
The scoreline stayed level for only 46 seconds, that shows just how big the yawning chasm was between these two teams.
Dundee were just too good – too strong, too fast, too smart and a young Inverness team could not cope with them.
Whether it was the power of Josh Mulligan, the sharpness of Simon Murray and Seb Palmer-Houlden or the quality of Ethan Ingram, there were just too many problems to deal with.
At times, Caley Thistle also created their own problems with an insistence of playing out from the back despite not having the quality to do so against a side like Dundee.
The Dark Blues were more than happy to punish mistakes and it should probably have been more than 5-0 at the break.
This was utter dominance and, in fact, may have become too easy as the second half wore on with very little happening.
Josh Mulligan
Breaking into the Dundee midfield is a daunting task for anybody right now.
In the second half of last season, the trio of Mo Sylla, Luke McCowan and Lyall Cameron were nailed-on starters.
The likes of Josh Mulligan had to be patient and wait for their chance. When that opportunity came, they really had to grab it.
Mulligan got another such opportunity against Inverness and, boy, did he take it.
The Scotland U/21 international was named Man of the Match despite six goals going in and Mulligan not being among the scorers.
That shows the level of his impact from the centre of midfield.
Dundee’s second goal showed that – Mulligan robbed his opposite number in the middle of the park, drove forward and put Simon Murray through to finish.
Mulligan created two good chances for himself, too, with his very own brand of powerful dribbling. Both times his excellent set-up play was let down by the final shot, though.
A super display, Mulligan has given his manager a welcome selection headache for next week’s derby.
Simon Murray
The goals are flying in.
That’s three appearances, two starts, and already five goals for Simon Murray.
None of the three were pretty finishes but he certainly knows where the goal is.
The second did bring about an argument, however. Was it Murray’s goal or an own goal?
In some places online it was down as an own goal after Danny Devine got the final touch in trying to clear Murray’s chipped shot.
But referee John Beaton said it was Murray’s strike and that means Dundee already have two strikers with hat-tricks to their names this season, joining Curtis Main.
Murray has five, Main has three and Palmer-Houlden also has three. Confidence is soaring among the Dundee strikers.
Ethan Ingram
The former West Brom kid has made a really strong start to his Dundee career.
His very first touch in this one set the tone for his team. From kick off, the Dark Blues sent a high ball out to the right flank and Ingram was up well above his opponent, winning the ball and eventually winning the throw-in that would bring the opening goal.
The first half did see a couple of uncharacteristic errors in possession.
However, that was far outweighed by the good stuff.
Ingram was at the heart of plenty in the first half.
It was his long throw that found the head of Seb Palmer-Houlden to flick on for Murray’s first. He assisted Palmer-Houlden’s second strike as well and proved a constant threat down the right flank.
Another fine showing.
Record-breaking
Dundee boss Tony Docherty said their group stage record “couldn’t be much better”.
In fact, no one has ever done it better.
Four wins from four, a goal difference of +16 and 18 goals scored is the best any side has managed since this group stage came into being in 2016/17.
And it could even have been better with a host of missed chances across the four matches.
The 6-0 scoreline was also the club’s biggest win against Inverness and equalled Caley Thistle’s heaviest-ever defeat.
Next is the big Premiership kick-off and a hefty step up in quality of opponent with a derby at Tannadice.
You couldn’t ask for better form going into that huge match.
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