Dundee’s wait for a league win will stretch beyond the two month mark after being held at home by bottom side St Johnstone.
This was not a classic at Dens Park by any means.
The Dundee performance was not great. It was not terrible either. Had it been terrible, the Dark Blues could well have been finishing this weekend at the foot of the Premiership table.
But they aren’t. That may be a small positive but, in the run Dundee have been on, you have to take small positives.
They have brought an end to their losing streak. It was the very least they needed to do.
But that shouldn’t take away the importance of avoiding another defeat, one which would have been the most damaging of the season.
The point ends the run of five losses, keeps St Johnstone three points behind and moves the Dee to within one result of Kilmarnock above them.
In the context of the season it could be an important point – but only if Dundee make it so.
Confidence
A win is certainly needed. And then some more after that.
But this could be the point from which Dundee revive their season.
It’s obvious looking back that the consecutive 6-0 defeats to Hearts and Celtic destroyed the confidence of this young team.
Confidence can disappear in a flash. Building it back up takes far longer.
And that’s the process Dundee are going through right now.
It’s about taking confidence from small details – not going under after conceding a crucial goal, equalising quickly afterwards, feeling hard-done-by at not taking late chances, having your captain back.
This was a small step – and bigger ones are most certainly needed – but it’s about adding small things together to get yourselves back on track.
It’s now up to Dundee to ensure Motherwell was the low point of the season and to build on the small foundation they’ve created on Saturday.
Leaders
The biggest cause for optimism at Dundee is the return of Joe Shaughnessy to the starting XI.
The Dark Blues defence is completely different with the skipper in there.
The Irishman brings an assurance to his team-mates, an authority in the backline and an uncanny ability to be in the right place time after time to head cross-balls out of the Dundee area.
There is almost a magnetic force between his head and the ball.
Shaughnessy also brings a bit of accountability on the pitch – he was clearly furious with Mo Sylla for not tracking Makenzie Kirk for the opening goal.
At another point he had to play mediator when centre-back partner Aaron Donnelly gave Sylla a rollicking.
Two moments that maybe explain why the Frenchman was hooked at half-time.
One key point that should not be overlooked is that this was the first time Shaughnessy and Trevor Carson – the club’s captain and vice-captain – had been on the pitch together in over a year.
February 28, 2024, was Carson’s final match of last season while Shaughnessy has been out for 10 months.
That’s 48 matches between matches together. Dundee need them right now.
Talisman
Tony Docherty pointed to the extra experience on the pitch and that’s where he is pinning his hopes.
Simon Murray certainly comes into that category and continues to excel despite the struggle to pick up results.
That’s three goals in three games and 11 Premiership goals in total, 17 in all competitions.
He’s paid back the money Dundee shelled out for him in the summer.
Murray and Sam Dalby are now the only non-Old Firm players in the top nine scorers this season.
Murray has scored the same amount as Cyriel Dessers and Vaclav Cerny of Rangers and more than their team-mate Hamza Igamane and Celtic’s Nicolas Kuhn.
He now has Dundee’s biggest Premiership goal tally since Kane Hemmings in 2015/16.
Goals that can drag his side to safety.
Manager pressure
There’s no doubt Tony Docherty was under pressure going into this one and the pressure only increased when Dundee went behind.
That pressure hasn’t gone away because wins are needed.
But this result, though not perfect, has bought him time to turn things around.
Another loss and the two-week gap to the next Premiership match would have seemed a yawning chasm for an under-fire manager.
Instead there’s now a Scottish Cup quarter-final without the pressure of a relegation battle that can allow Dundee to continue to rebuild their fragile confidence.
But then comes a derby at Tannadice.
These are now without doubt the two biggest games in Tony Docherty’s Dundee career.
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