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Tony Docherty on Dundee’s key training focus ahead of St Mirren clash

The Dark Blues have the worst defensive record in the Premiership this season.

Dundee boss Tony Docherty spoke to the media today. Image: Ross Parker/SNS
Dundee boss Tony Docherty. Image: Ross Parker/SNS

Tony Docherty insists Dundee will be working “diligently” to improve their leaky defence ahead of the weekend clash with St Mirren.

The Dark Blues have conceded 10 more goals than any other side in the Premiership this season and are on course to register the most goals conceded in a league campaign in the club’s history.

That number stands at 80. They are 13 short of that number with seven matches remaining.

But it isn’t just about tightening things up at the back in terms of positioning.

Cyriel Dessers scores against Dundee
Cyriel Dessers’ winner for Rangers on Saturday was the 67th league goal Dundee have conceded this season. Image: Ross Parker/SNS

Instead Docherty revealed Dundee’s post-match analysis identified another issue – conceding territory to the opposition.

He said: “The improvement we need to make is in the tightness at the back and stop not just conceding goals but territory as well.

“That’s what we’ve looked at in our analysis, showed the players what we can do better.

“Now we’ll take it onto the training pitch and work on things we can put in practice for the next game.

‘He helps with structure and communication’

“I have worked with teams before where the difficulty is scoring a goal but we have absolutely no problems with that.

“What we need to work on is preventing goals, so we’ll be doing that diligently this week in the build up to St Mirren.

“We have to eradicate the individual mistakes which have led to goals.

Joe Shaughnessy and Tony Docherty
Tony Docherty is delighted to have captain Joe Shaughnessy back in his team. Image: Roddy Scott/SNS

“We do work hard on the training ground on structure but it’s been individual mistakes which have proved costly.

“That’s something we have to take responsibility for and everyone is doing that.

“Since Joe Shaughnessy came back we’re looking more solid, he helps with our structure and communication.

“The back line has changed so much due to injuries and we’ve lost a lot of experience in there.

“But we’re getting that back again now and I do think we’re in a really good place for the remainder of the season.

“The atmosphere about the place, the way the boys are feeling is good – we just have to channel all that to make the improvements we need to make.”

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