Dundee’s 1-0 win at Motherwell was “what the doctor ordered” for both the Dark Blues and for returning goalkeeper Trevor Carson.
Lyall Cameron’s first-half strike earned all three points at Fir Park but it was the shutout at the other end that drew the biggest satisfaction for the Dee.
A leaky defence had proved very costly in recent matches with criticism thrown at the young backline.
Dundee headed into the contest on the back of a run of four straight defeats.
But he admits the players in front of him deserve all the credit for earning the first league clean sheet of the campaign.
“It was what the doctor ordered,” Carson said.
“We had to dig in.
“But I don’t remember any clear chances that they had. The lads were excellent defending our box, something we’d worked on all week.
“Scotty Fraser made a point before the game about how hard we’d worked on the training pitch.
“We’d conceded a lot of goals but last week we really focused on defending our box and cutting out the individual mistakes.
“To a man, everyone carried it out.
“We knew we’d have to defend our box at times and the lads in front of me were excellent.
“We showed real composure and, with the run we’d been on, that speaks volumes for the group.”
‘We won’t be dancing around’
There won’t be any getting ahead of things at Dundee, however.
It is just one victory and more are needed.
“It wasn’t all doom and gloom around the place,” Carson said of the recent few weeks.
“At the same time we won’t be dancing around on Monday as if we’d cracked it.
“It’ll be back to work.
“But we know we needed a win on Saturday. That was the message through the international break, we were coming here to win.
“You know what it’s like in football, you go on that losing streak and it snowballs. You lose seven or eight in a row and it’s a horrible place to be.
“First and foremost it was about nipping that in the bud.
“We’re not looking that far ahead but we need to make sure we take confidence.
“This league can be ruthless so it’s all focus on St Johnstone now who also had a good result on Saturday.”
Jon McCracken
Carson is hoping to keep his place after having to sit on the sidelines while Jon McCracken had the gloves.
The young goalie has earned himself a place in the last two Scotland squads.
However, Carson came in for his first Premiership appearance of the season after playing in the League Cup earlier in the campaign.
Should he keep the gloves for next week, the experienced Carson knows he must be on his game to stay between the sticks.
“I’ve had to be patient. Jon McCracken came in at the end of last season and has done really well,” Carson added.
“Everyone will agree he deserved to start the season.
“When you’re a goalkeeper you are either No 1 or you’re nothing, it can be horrible.
“You are waiting on a loss of form but I’ve always backed Jon when’s been playing and he was excellent with me on Saturday.
“We’ll keep that up. It’s all about the team at the end of the day. Of course, you want to contribute and it can be frustrating on a Saturday when you can’t do that.
“Not playing has made me even hungrier.
“I know there is stiff competition and that will keep me on my toes to keep my place.
“Just getting a taste of it, coming away from home and grinding out a 1-0 there’s no drug in the world can top that.
“It’s now up to me to keep performing.
“It is stiff competition, Jon is in the Scotland squad deservedly, he’s a young keeper with so much ability and I know I need to be on top of my game.”
Conversation