When Dundee were reduced to 10 men against Rangers on Sunday with 70 minutes of the game remaining, it seemed certain there would only be one winner.
However, the Dark Blues’ Andy Boyle insists that the current team spirit allied to boss Jim McIntyre’s training regime ensured the Dens men would not give up without a fight.
And so it proved with Dundee frustrating Steven Gerrard’s side to secure a well-deserved draw with the result lifting the team off the bottom of the Premiership table.
The Dark Blues had taken an early lead through Kenny Miller before the hosts’ Nathan Ralph was shown a straight red card with Andy Halliday scoring from the resultant free-kick.
Earlier this season, that would almost certainly have resulted in the floodgates opening but this current Dundee side are made of sterner stuff and the togetherness of the team was there for all to see.
Irishman Boyle said: “Definitely. As a group, we are all together. At training and around the place it is always bubbly.
“We always train well and obviously the results have come of late which makes it all the better.
“Since the new manager has come in, he has us right at it in training every day.
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“We are working hard and I think it was evident against Rangers that we didn’t tire too much and played right through to the 93rd minute.
“It is a massive thing for us now to be off the bottom of the table but as the manager said to us, it is only a start and we want to kick on now.
“We are well aware that we have tough games coming up before the break but they are matches we can now relish.”
The Rangers game was Boyle’s first for over a month after he suffered a cut knee against Motherwell at Fir Park with the 27-year-old being drafted in to replace the injured Darren O’Dea.
The on-loan Preston North End defender did not put a foot wrong and he admitted that considering all the circumstances, Sunday’s draw almost felt like a victory.
Boyle added: “I think so. After going down to 10 men early on, and then them scoring from the free-kick made it difficult.
“But we dug in well and limited them to very few chances. As a team we made it tough for them.
“We tried to stick in there for 10 or 15 minutes after (the red card) and then attempted to get in at half-time with the same score.
“It was a nice game to come back into and it makes it all the better when you get a positive result.
“As 11 men and 10 men I thought we were very good and deserved a point.
“When you go down to 10 men against a team like Rangers, you know you will have to defend for your lives to get anything out of it.
“It was such a long time we were down to 10 and they had the majority of the ball but as I said, it is great to come away with a point.
“All credit to everyone for working really hard.”
Boyle added: “We are four games unbeaten now and have picked up good results along the way.
“We have some good games to look forward to, ones we hope we can win on the back of the recent results.
“We have plenty of confidence and know we are hard to beat.
“We also have players at the other end of the pitch who can nick us goals.”
Boyle’s short-term loan at Dens runs out in January but he admitted he would like to extend it.
He added: “My deal is up next month but I believe there is an option to stay on.
“So I will sit down over the next couple of weeks and see what’s going to happen.
“I would like to stay on. I have really enjoyed my time here and it is a good group.
“I get on well with all the lads and I have enjoyed playing up in Scotland.”
