New Dundee boss Gordon Chisholm has asked his players to come clean about any “secret weapons” stashed away in their armouries.
The Dens Park manager revealed that his side’s third goal against Ayr on Saturday was a direct result of discovering Richie Hart had a long-throw ability.
It was something they worked on in training and it paid off at the weekend when Hart launched a ball from the touchline which was flicked on by Craig McKeown for Colin McMenamin to head home.
“I am still getting to know the players,” admitted Chisholm. “For instance, wee Harty came on the other week and took a long throw.
“I did not know he had that ability but we picked up on it and we scored from one on Saturday. So I have asked them if anyone else have any secrets or something that is different.
“It is a case of trying to get to know the boys’ strengths and weaknesses.”
Dundee plumbed the depths of despair a week ago at Dunfermline but Chisholm was delighted by the performance and reaction from his players against Ayr.
“I was happy with the big difference between the Tuesday night loss to Saturday’s win,” he said.
“I was pleased with the players against Ross County and I thought it would grow from there but we had a setback against Dunfermline.
“I changed the shape of the team against Ayr and I thought that worked.Intense”The boys were also really intense and that was something the opposition touched upon afterwards, that they never got a minute to settle.
“That’s all we are asking for to work hard and play at the right tempo. I feel we have the ability in the squad to hurt teams but you will not do that if you are playing on the halfway line or in your own half.
“We need to apply pressure further up the pitch and, if we do that, we have the players to punish teams.
“I thought the lads bought into our ideas on Saturday and the win will do their confidence the world of good.
“The only disappointment is the fact we only have one home game left.
“Playing all those matches with the undersoil heating on has sort of backfired on us as we now have a lot of away games to finish the season.
“Obviously, Inverness are in a strong position but we have to ensure we can capitalise if they slip up.”
Dundee face Partick Thistle on Saturday and Chisholm revealed that the Dark Blues have several injury concerns.
“Tony Bullock did not train as his ankle has been up for about a week now,” he said. “He will be OK for the weekend, though.
“Eric Paton is still out with his hamstring while Gary MacKenzie is going to see a specialist about his knee.
“Eddie Malone, Gary Harkins and Ryan O’Leary all took knocks on Saturday but we hope they will clear quickly.”
Dundee will be keeping an eye on results tonight with title rivals Inverness and Ross County in action.
Inverness visit Morton while Ross County host Queen of the South.