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.

Jon McCracken: Dundee boss backs keeper to return from Scotland duty 100% focused

The Dark Blues stopper was criticised by fans over his role in Kilmarnock's first goal in their comeback win at Dens Park.

Jon McCracken in conversation with Dundee boss Tony Docherty at half-time of their defeat to Kilmarnock. Image: SNS
Jon McCracken in conversation with Dundee boss Tony Docherty at half-time of their defeat to Kilmarnock. Image: SNS

Tony Docherty believes Dundee keeper Jon McCracken will bounce back from his tough afternoon against Kilmarnock while on Scotland duty.

McCracken has come in for criticism from Dark Blues fans over his role in Killie’s comeback-sparking first goal at Dens Park.

Matty Kennedy’s effort squirmed out of McCracken’s grasp and trickled over the line to give his side hope, with the Rugby Parkers adding two more late strikes to emerge as shock victors.

It was a tough ending for everyone associated with the Dee to swallow.

Jon McCracken cut a dejected figure at full time against Kilmarnock. Image: SNS

But manager, Docherty, has no concerns about his goalkeeper’s ability to put the past behind him while away on international duty.

Asked how McCracken would react, he said: “The way he always does. He’s away with the Scotland squad and his focus will be on that.

“You need to recover in this industry, it’s about how you react to mistakes.

“I expect Jon, being such a strong character, to do that.

“He’s a good goalkeeper.

“There are ups and downs in this game, it’s about how you react.”

Ziyad Larkeche

Ziyad Larkeche was another Dundee standout against Killie, for better AND worse.

His attacking performance in the first half, which included bagging the opening goal, showed why he was brought to the club.

However, when Killie gained a foothold, the Frenchman exhibited defensive frailties.

They, says Docherty, are what he and his coaching staff will now be working to eradicate with Larkeche.

“He showed real signs of what Ziyad is [against Kilmarnock],” said the Dundee boss.

“When we looked at him in the summer we saw he had real attacking intent.

“Time and time again he got past their wing-back and into good areas. His goal was brilliant.

Ziyad Larkeche scores
Ziyad Larkeche opened the scoring for Dundee against Killie. Image: SNS

“I think we saw a side of Ziyad we were expecting to see and we were very pleased with it.

“But Ziyad will be the first to admit there are elements in his game we need to refine and make better.

“He gets into good areas of the pitch because he has a good engine. He has the ability to score goals and I’m pleased with that return.

“But we do need to make him even better on his defensive things.”

Conversation