Tony Docherty admits Dundee have been handed a testing Scottish Cup quarter final tie – but it’s one that gives his players a shot at redemption.
After beating Airdrieonians 4-0 on Saturday at Dens, the Dark Blues were drawn out of the hat against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Just two weeks ago, Dundee suffered a humiliating 6-0 Premiership defeat to the Jam Tarts – and Docherty is looking to make amends in the cup next month.
However, the manager insists that at the moment, his full focus is on the league and this weekend’s clash at Dens with Aberdeen.
Docherty said: “It’s definitely a tough draw for us.
“But you know when you get to the last eight of the Scottish Cup, you’ve got to beat good teams if you want to progress.
“We know it’s a difficult tie, away to Hearts at Tynecastle.
“It does offer us a wee bit of a chance at redemption.
“But I’d rather speak more about that the nearer the time. I’d say we now have a laser focus on the Aberdeen game.”
Lyall Cameron suspension
If Dundee are to gain revenge against Hearts, they will have to do so without key midfielder Lyall Cameron.
The 22-year-old, who has signed a pre-contract with Rangers, received his second Scottish Cup yellow card of the season against Airdrie and will miss the trip to Tynecastle.
Docherty added: “Lyall will be suspended for that quarter-final because he picked up a booking against Airdrie.
“But we’ll deal with that – we have a very competitive squad.”
Dundee’s 6-0 defeat against Hearts was followed by another loss in the league to Celtic by the same scoreline.
And Docherty admitted it was vital to get back on track against Airdrie in the cup.
The 54-year-old said: “It did feel important to me, because just prior to the Hearts game we had six really difficult league fixtures.
“We played the Old Firm three times, Celtic twice and Rangers, and we played Dundee United.
“Within that spell, we got really important away wins at St Johnstone and St Mirren.
“Nobody saw that coming in the Hearts game.
“In terms of the confidence of the squad, and us getting back on track again, to put in a level of performance that we did against the Airdrie was so important.”
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