Before Saturday’s game with Rangers, Andy Boyle’s last taste of first-team action was playing on loan for Doncaster against Bury back in April in front of just over 7,000 fans.
There were 43,000 more supporters than that packed inside Ibrox as the 27-year-old Irish centre-half was handed his debut for struggling Dundee.
Rangers were huge favourites with one bookie offering 7-1 beforehand for an unlikely Dark Blues win.
Those odds increased sharply as Boyle and his team-mates conceded with just four minutes on the clock and the final 4-0 scoreline in no way flattered the hosts.
And the defender, who joined Dundee on loan from parent club Preston North End on transfer deadline day, admitted it was a testing baptism of fire for him: “Yes it was. It was obviously going to be a tough place to come to.
“To concede goals in the manner we did and obviously you saw that in the game it makes it even tougher for us.
“We set out to keep it tight in the first half, to not concede and it’s difficult when that does happen. But now we just need to dust ourselves down and get ready for next week.
“I want to play on the big stage and against all the big teams. Obviously this was not the result we wanted but we’ve now got to get going for next week.
“We have to start games better first and foremost, that’s a big thing. We need to cut the individual errors out as those seem to be costing us a lot of goals.
“I thought in the first half we did create a couple of chances, we got a couple of openings and maybe it we had taken one of them, then it’s a different game.”
While Dundee remain rock bottom of the Premiership without a point to their name, Boyle admitted he believes confidence remains high within the squad.
He added: “Around the training ground it has been quite upbeat. You would never have known we were in the positions of having lost four games in four before today.
“It’s a great bunch of lads and we probably just need a bit of luck to get us going or a win and that’ll kick us on.
“I have never been in this position before but we’ve just got to roll our sleeves up and get going for it.”
As Boyle admitted, Dundee’s game plan to keep it tight flew out the window in the fourth minute.
A shot by Borna Barisic was blocked but the ball fell perfectly for Lassana Coulibaly who shot past the exposed Dark Blues keeper Elliott Parish.
Dundee bounced back from that terrible start with Paul McGowan going close with a shot from the edge of the Rangers penalty area.
However, the Dark Blues then found themselves two goals down in the 14th minute when Ryan Kent played a great one-two in the Dundee box before calmly slotting the ball past Parish.
Dundee’s Elton Ngwatala had a chance to pull one back but he hesitated and the opportunity was lost.
Instead it was Rangers who scored again in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. Darren O’Dea, who had received treatment for a back injury shortly before, brought down Alfredo Morelos inside the Dundee box with referee Kevin Clancy having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Rangers skipper James Tavernier stepped up and smashed the ball past Parish to make it 3-0 at the break.
Morelos should have made it four shortly after the restart but he dithered and Cammy Kerr made an outstanding block. The Rangers striker did better in the 59th minute when he hit a low, angled drive but Parish dived to make a superb fingertip save.
However, the Dark Blues’ day became worse in the 78th minute when Kenny Miller was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Barisic. Incredibly, the former Rangers striker received a standing ovation from the most of the home fans as he trudged off.
Gerrard’s side made it four in the 83rd minute when Dundee sub Genseric Kusunga chested a cross straight into the path of Rangers replacement Glenn Middleton who gleefully accepted the gift to shoot past Parish.
