Dundee boss Barry Smith believes the Dark Blues’ thumping of Ayr United will send out the message loud and clear that his players will continue to give their all until the end of the season.
The home fans were looking for a big reaction from their favourites after a couple of disappointing performances in their previous two games and they certainly received one.
The title may be heading to Ross County but Smith still could not hide his delight at the result and performance against Ayr and made special mention of youngsters Kyle Benedictus and Leighton McIntosh, who were drafted into the side for rare starts.
The Dens Park boss said: ”I got a great reaction from the boys from the first minute. They have done extremely well throughout the season but in the last two games they haven’t done themselves justice.
”Hopefully tonight will show the fans that we are still at it 100% and we will keep going to the end of the season.
”Don’t take anything away from Ayr though, they did play well but I think overall we deserved to win scoring some quality goals. They were good finishes.”
The manager added: ”I don’t normally pick out players but I thought the two young ones coming in did really well. It is excellent for the club to see two lads come through the youth system. It was great to see them come out and play as well as they did.”
The victory ensured County’s title celebrations will have to be put on hold for at least another week. If the Dark Blues had lost or drawn against the Honest Men, Derek Adams’ Highland outfit could have clinched the first division championship with a win over Raith Rovers on Saturday.
The original fixture between Dundee and Ayr a fortnight ago was called off just minutes before kick-off when the Dens Park floodlights failed.
But the Dark Blues were certainly switched on from the start on Tuesday night as they answered boss Barry Smith’s call to ”make amends” after a lacklustre display while drawing against Raith Rovers on Saturday.
The home side opened the scoring in the 20th minute through Jamie McCluskey and Steven Milne doubled their advantage shortly after the hour mark.
However, they then had to survive a couple of big scares with Ayr looking to ease clear of the drop zone twice hitting the Dundee woodwork and then pulling one back through Mark Roberts.
But the points were sealed as the game entered stoppage time with two goals from Jake Hyde and Ryan Conroy.
Ayr boss Brian Reid felt the scoreline more than flattered Dundee.
He said: ”It is unbelievable that we have been beaten 4-1 tonight. For long spells, we outplayed them, created better chances but the ball just didn’t fall for us.
”I would have been disappointed drawing let alone getting beat. On another night, we could have won the game comfortably.”