DUNDEE KEEPER Rab Douglas reckons everyone associated with the club has to keep faith their luck will turn following a frustrating afternoon in the Highlands.
Inverness is rarely the most hospitable of places weather-wise at this time of year but, as Saturday’s visitors found out to their cost, it’s starting to become the same story points-wise.
Nicky Riley’s equaliser to cancel out Billy McKay’s opener gave the Dark Blues some hope of taking something back down the road, but a second from McKay sandwiched in between goals from Owain Tudur-Jones and Andrew Shinnie ensured another fruitless outcome for the SPL’s bottom club.
“As a goalie you want to make saves, you make a couple of good saves and think it’s going to be a good day, but to let four in…” Douglas said.
“I don’t think it looked a 4-1 certainly and we were still in it at 2-1 but Declan (Gallagher) was maybe a wee bit rash and Davo (Iain Davidson) with the third, we kill ourselves.
“It’s back to making basic mistakes and we want to cut that out, because we had gone through a good period of cutting out the mistakes.
“We lost four at Dens and we were poor that night, but this time we were right in the game until probably the third went in.
“It’s hard going but we’ve got some good games to look forward to against Celtic, Aberdeen and St Johnstone. A couple are at Dens where we’ve got to have a go and keep believing.”
Despite another defeat, Douglas believes Boxing Day’s home fixture against league leaders Celtic is coming at the right time for the deflated players.
He explained: “After a game like that where you lose but you were still in it, you want another game pretty quick and that’s what we’ve got with Celtic.
“The boys almost try harder against the Old Firm and they’ll maybe lose to a lower team the following week, so we’ve got to go and have a go at them on Boxing Day.
“I’m quite sure Lenny will have them warned about that. We’ve got two big home games coming up and it will be good to see Dens full, but we’ve got to believe.”
Dundee boss Barry Smith said: “We thought we created enough chances in the first half to possibly go in level, but obviously the third goal makes it a lot more difficult and they go on from strength to strength from there.
“I still think we’re capable of creating chances and we’ve now got three big games to look forward to.”
Asked if he thought 4-1 flattered Caley, Smith refused to take any credit away from the hosts.
“I’m not going to knock Terry’s team because ultimately they deserved to win,” he concluded.
It appears the respect is mutual, as Inverness boss Terry Butcher admitted his side had come through a tough fixture.
“I can’t believe they are at the bottom of the league the way they play and they gave us a lot of problems,” Butcher commented.
“They are a decent side and I was really worried about the game because it was one we’re expected to win, which is unusual for us.”
csmith@thecourier.co.uk