Dundee have work to do.
Work to win back doubting fans. Work to realise their ambitions this season. Work to start scoring goals and to stop conceding them.
Work to do but little time to do it as their worst display of the season came at the most frenetic stage of the campaign.
A 3-0 loss at home to Ross County is as low as things have got under Tony Docherty’s management.
It was a dismal display with very little to redeem it.
Courier Sport was at Dens Park to pick out key talking points.
Toothless
Dundee may have had defensive issues to try to sort out this season but their attacking potency was never in doubt.
They’d scored 27 goals in 15 league games not so long ago.
Now, though, that is 27 goals in 18 league games with three blanks on the bounce bringing no points.
Every team goes through a spell of missing chances. But there have barely been any chances missed in these last three.
And that is a huge concern.
It has been over a month since a Dundee striker scored a goal – Curtis Main netting the fourth goal in the win over Hibs on November 23.
And it took until 82 minutes had elapsed against County for Dundee to really test the new man between the sticks for the visitors.
A new goalkeeper who hasn’t even had a club for the majority of this season, new to the league and his team-mates, you must test him. But the Dark Blues didn’t.
For the second time this term, Dundee just could not hurt this Ross County side. The Staggies were happy to clog up any enterprise from the hosts.
They did get into decent positions at times, Seun Adewumi and Josh Mulligan getting into the channels in the first half but with no final ball to make the most of it.
Combined with the toothless attack, the defence is far too open.
Ross County had 22 shots on the Dundee goal, the hosts had just nine of their own.
That’s the sixth time in the last 10 matches that the opposition have had 20 or more shots against Dundee.
Another concern.
The bottom three are Ross County, Hearts and St Johnstone. All three have beaten Dundee this season.
Yet another concern, another that must be addressed to avoid a relegation battle.
Home away from home
Much has been made of Ross County’s inability to win away in the Premiership.
Twenty-five games without a win is a poor, poor record.
But the Staggies record at Dens Park is anything but poor. It’s damn good.
Prior to last season, Dundee had lost the previous four meetings with the Dingwall side at Dens and the visitors were unbeaten in six.
A 3-0 win is a big result. But it’s by no means the biggest the Staggies have managed at Dens Park – they’ve registered 5-0 and 4-1 wins in the past eight years.
And for the second time this term, Dundee have drawn a blank against their Highland opponents, putting in two dismal performances in the process.
Bogey team indeed.
What next?
Dundee must improve.
There is real quality in this squad but it’s not showing it.
The connections between defence and midfield and midfield and attack are not there.
Too often on Saturday the extra man at the back – Antonio Portales in the first half, Sean Kelly in the second – was left on the ball searching in vain for a pass forward.
The basic downside to playing a three-man defence is that the team has one less man in attack.
When you are in front, you can use that extra defender to control possession. However, go behind to a team happy to defend deep like County it can be difficult.
Docherty may now be forced to change the defensive setup after McGhee’s illness and Portales’ hamstring injury with options limited.
St Mirren on Sunday is a crucial game, a reaction to this severe disappointment is needed or the derby next week begins to look more and more ominous.
Concerns are growing. Dundee need to change something to jolt life back into this season – and they need to do it quickly.
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