Josh Mulligan played a big part in helping Dundee reach the Premiership two seasons ago – now he is determined to do all he can to ensure they stay there.
The Dark Blues suffered their third league defeat in a row on Saturday, with Aberdeen securing the victory thanks to goals from Kevin Nisbet and Topi Keskinen, with Seb Palmer-Houlden netting for the home side.
Defeat left Dundee sitting precariously in the relegation play-off spot, with a crunch game at 10th-placed Ross County looming large on the horizon next week.
Mulligan insists everyone at Dens is up for the fight but they aren’t focusing too much on their lowly league position at the moment.
The 22-year-old said: “I don’t think we should look too much at that as there are still a lot of games to go.
“Everyone in there is ready to give everything.
“We are just looking forward to the next game and putting things right.”
When asked if Dundee are now in a relegation battle, Mulligan replied: “The table does indicate that but we are just looking at putting things right after that result.
“You should have that confidence in yourself that you are good enough to play at this level.
“It’s just more about having that fight and not conceding goals.
“We have a big game next week and that’s what we need to do.
“We obviously don’t want to go down. I want to stay in this league and keep this club where it belongs.”
However, that aim could be undone by a fatal flaw with the Dark Blues conceding far too often.
Tony Docherty’s side are the third highest scorers in the Premiership but have let in a whopping 55 goals in 26 games.
And Mulligan admitted there has to be dramatic improvements to eradicate that failing.
He added: “The application was there and everyone gave everything but once again we conceded two goals.
“It is really hard to win football matches if you concede that many goals.
“It is difficult but everybody in there is ready for the fight and that’s the most important thing.
“I think we always create chances and we have players in the team who can make things happen.
“It is just conceding too many goals – like I said, it is hard to win football matches doing that.”
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