Dundee boss James McPake has told his players that the sort of lacklustre performance they produced at the weekend against League 1 outfit Peterhead was simply not acceptable.
The manager, who was absent from the dug-out at Dens as his wife Dawn was giving birth to their third child Grace at the time, has watched the match footage back a couple of times.
He admitted he was pleased with another clean sheet, the third in a row in the Betfred Cup so far.
However, there were other aspects of his side’s play that he was less than happy with and he is determined the failings will not crop up again.
McPake said: “I thought we were poor on Saturday from the levels we had been particularly in getting after the ball and taking care of the ball.
“I have watched the game and we have had a chat. It was night and day from the performance the week before.
“We got that across to the players that it wasn’t acceptable.
“The one thing we can promise is that we will work as hard as we can and we will give the fans everything.
“On Saturday that dipped a bit which was disappointing and that won’t happen again.
“I let that be known to the players.”
McPake is still looking to bolster his striking options but he insisted it is the responsibility of all the outfield players to try to chip in with goals, not just the front men.
He added: “We are creating chances and I am delighted with three cleans sheets in a row in competitive football which doesn’t happen very often at this football club.
“So that is something to build on.
“We do need help up top but everybody else needs to chip in as well.
“We need to be a bit better in the final third.
“I get the frustration with the lack of signings but I am not going to change that.
“As a football club and a staff that is what we decided to do, to take a bit of care over everyone we bring in and we are going to do that.
“It is not going to change because of a couple of draws. It is a long season.”
