Jordan McGhee has revealed he is back in action nearly two months ahead of schedule – and desperate to help Dundee solve their defensive woes.
The 28-year-old made his first start in seven weeks in Saturday evening’s 4-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
Slotting in at right-back in a four-man rearguard, the former Hearts and Falkirk defender lasted 63 minutes before being replaced.
The Dark Blues were made to pay a heavy price for set-piece frailties after the break, and Simon Murray’s missed penalty in the final seconds of the first-half.
But McGhee is determined the Dens Park men will find answers to what boss Tony Docherty admitted had been ‘unacceptable’ defending.
“It’s clear to see, the four goals are nowhere near the standard that we expect to defend,” admitted the former Scotland U/21 internationalist. “And we got punished for it.
“It’s just hard to put a finger on it.
“We work really hard in training every single day and it’s just something we need to get right.
“We need to keep working on it as hard as we can and, once it’s right, hold on to that feeling and bottle it and use it whenever we can.
‘That do or die attitude’
“It’s about being a bit streetwise as well and just having that attitude not to concede goals. That do or die [attitude].
“I believe we’ve got that in the building. But it’s time we need to step up and show it – not just the back four, the full team.”
Dundee have managed just one shut-out in the league this season. At the same stage last year, they had kept six clean sheets.
“We work really hard on the training pitch every single day,” added McGhee. “We get it drilled into us, but it’s just not clicking at the minute to keep the clean sheets.
“When I look back to last season, that’s what we built our success on, was clean sheets when we could.
“We need to get back to that quickly.”
Dundee performed admirably in the first-half at Pittodrie, only briefly allowing Aberdeen to flicker into life in attack whilst retaining their own threats going forward at the other end.
But Murray’s penalty, which was saved by Dimitar Mitov, proved a pivotal moment as the Dons struck clinically through Ante Palaversa and Topi Keskinen four minutes apart early in the second-half.
Murray’s glancing header in the 70th minute gave the visitors hope of another comeback to match their stirring Kilmarnock victory six days previously.
But home substitutes Vicente Besuijen and Kevin Nisbet earned a comfortable victory for Jimmy Thelin’s side.
McGhee: ‘Hopefully I can contribute’
McGhee acknowledged the result was what mattered but, on a personal note, he is glad to have shaken off the calf muscle problem had sidelined him in September.
“I’m back about seven weeks ahead of schedule, probably,” he explained. “When I got my first scan it was a really bad, pretty deep tear.
“But the symptoms have shown I was able to walk and do some stuff that I shouldn’t really have been able to do.
“I got it re-scanned and the second scan was a bit more favourable.
“I’m just building myself back up to that 90 minutes and hopefully I can contribute in keeping clean sheets.”
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