Dundee manager Paul Hartley ordered his players to watch a video nasty in the hope of ensuring there is no repeat.
The Dark Blues were thumped 6-0 by Celtic on Sunday and, as Hartley admitted after the game, it would have been a lot worse had it not been for the heroics of goalkeeper Scott Bain.
It was painful enough at Parkhead but the agony continued for the Dark Blues’ squad as Hartley made them sit through footage of the match, highlighting everything he was unhappy about.
Even Bain, who pulled off a string of superb saves, wasn’t spared the horror show.
The hope for Hartley is that the players learn from the excruciating experience and kick on, starting against Ross County at Dens tomorrow.
The Dundee gaffer said: “We watched the video, which wasn’t nice, and we are building towards Saturday’s game now.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=07erqRircO0%3Frel%3D0
“It was a major disappointment but now we have to make sure we are focused on what will be a very tough match against Ross County.
“When you have a poor result like we had you have to learn from it.
“We didn’t see it coming and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“That means looking at what we didn’t do well.
“What you can learn is that you have to go to Celtic Park and have a tough mentality.
“When we went a couple of goals down it seemed to affect the mental side of things.
“You could see that because we conceded goals in the space of a few minutes of each other.
“That is something that, next time we go there or anywhere else, shouldn’t happen again.
“We had a really good, constructive talk after the game.
“I didn’t think there was any point in being angry.
“Instead, you have to show the players what went wrong.
“So we looked at the video at the start of the week and saw how disappointing it was, the way we played.
“What we said to them was that they need to try to make up for it this weekend.
“Sometimes it (a video analysis session) has to be done.
“You have to show them so that it won’t happen again.
“It was painful for us, at the side, watching it (at Celtic Park).
“Then we had to go over it again two or three times, highlighting the bits that we didn’t like about the performance.
“The players saw it and since then they have gotten on with things, and training has been brilliant this week.”
Dundee don’t have their selection troubles to seek ahead of the visit of County, who banged in seven goals without reply against Falkirk in the Scottish League Cup in midweek.
Paul McGowan is still suffering from his ankle problem, while Nicky Low has had a virus and been absent all week.
Hartley said: “Paul still has that problem and there is some bone bruising.
“Nicky took unwell at the start of the week so we are concerned about him.
“It’s just part and parcel of football.
“It’s not something we will complain or moan about.
“That’s just the way it is and we have enough in the squad to cover most positions.
“I think we would probably have been thinking about a couple of changes after last Sunday anyway.”
One thing Hartley can never be accused of is not doing his homework.
He has travelled up to Dingwall twice in recent days, firstly to watch County beat Partick Thistle in the league on Saturday then batter the Bairns in the cup on Tuesday.
He confirmed: “I have watched them twice and they are playing well.”
Meanwhile, Colin Reid, the Dundee FC Supporters’ Society (DFCSS) representative on the club’s board, has resigned.
In a letter, Mr Reid stated: “I am sorry to say that I would like you to accept this letter as my resignation from position of director on Dundee Football Club.
“I have given this some careful consideration and although I am very sad to be leaving Dundee Football Club, I feel that this is the right time for me to move on.
“I am very grateful for the experience that you all have given me over the past two years and I have learnt a great deal during this time.
“I hope to be able to continue to use these experiences in a future role and for that I would like to say thank you.”