Dundee’s wait for Dens derby delight goes on after a heartbreaking home defeat to Dundee United.
It has been seven years since the Dees enjoyed victory over their biggest rivals.
This was one of the more agonising home disappointments after taking the lead through Simon Murray’s penalty before their Achilles heel reared its ugly head once more.
Courier Sport was squeezed into the packed Dens Park to pick out some key talking points.
Conceding
Dundee had the game in their hands but yet another lead was conceded – that’s now 13 points thrown away from winning positions this term.
That follows last season where they gave up a massive 25 points from games in which they led.
The summer’s transfer business evidently hasn’t solved the problem. Now the hope is January can help.
In the meantime, what’s going on this term?
That’s also now 14 Premiership matches where Dundee have conceded two goals or more.
Defensively the Dark Blues are letting themselves down. The good play going forward is too often for nought because of the soft goals going in at the other end.
Defending as a team is an issue because it’s not just one player or position that is struggling.
The first goal came from a simple long throw, striker Seb Palmer-Houlden didn’t get enough on the header, inadvertently flicking it on and striker Simon Murray allowed Sevelj to run free to finish.
The second saw a couple of tired attempts to set Seun Adewumi clear on the break and from losing the ball the defensive shape was all to pot.
Dundee’s right was completely open with Josh Mulligan having burst forward and Kevin Holt took advantage to set up Dalby’s winner.
Leadership
Jim Duffy, on BBC radio duty, called the finale to this derby game “naïve”.
He’s a man who knows how to defend a lead.
Dundee’s team is a young one and young footballers make mistakes.
But there is also no Jim Duffy in this team. Leadership has been a big issue this term. Joe Shaughnessy is the skipper and that experience has never effectively been replaced. Not for long enough anyway, thanks to the constant injury list.
Of the starting XI, seven are 23 or under. A very young team.
Clark Robertson came back in for this one and made an impact despite having only put in one training session beforehand.
But he was knackered by the end.
Lack of subs?
Tired legs were undoubtedly a factor late in the game and fans have been quick to point to a lack of action from the bench.
Boss Tony Docherty is often reticent to make changes when his side is in a good place.
Sunday’s win at St Mirren didn’t see an unforced sub made until 89 minutes.
This time it wasn’t until after United had taken the lead.
The if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it approach, though, could also be explained by a lack of trust in the backup options.
Scott Tiffoney and Curtis Main were the choices. A crucial last few minutes in a Dundee derby was not the time for inexperienced loan players like Sammy Braybrooke, Cesar Garza or Julien Vetro.
Tiffoney, meanwhile, hasn’t been at his best in recent games while Main hasn’t been used much at all for weeks.
Docherty clearly wants to upgrade his squad this month.
Bench options are part of that. This team is tired with the players who are fit right now having played game after game after game.
And there is no let-up in the fixture schedule.
Returning players
Helping things are having the likes of Clark Robertson and Luke Graham back available.
Robertson returned from injury and played a full 90 minutes despite barely training in the lead-up to the game.
It says a lot about the player that he did so, though it also shows how far this squad is stretched because ideally he’d have been eased back into action.
His performance showed a player this Dundee side have missed.
Cesar Garza was on the bench for the first time, another fresh option in the team.
And Graham is another. Fresh is the word. The confidence he’s built on loan at Falkirk showed throughout the majority of the contest.
But his youth was also clear in the crunch moment when bested by deadly Dalby – the most in-form striker in the country – inside the six-yard box.
A sharp lesson for a talent young defender in a team that sorely needs to learn its lessons if they are to get any success this term.
Crucial
St Johnstone on Sunday is massive now.
Dundee need points on the board – the following three Premiership fixtures are a nightmare run of Rangers then Celtic and then Celtic again.
Saints are struggling big time and the Dark Blues need to add to that.
They’ve already come a cropper against the Perth side this season, doing so again will plunge them firmly into a relegation battle.
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