Dundee may have little apart from pride to play for in their remaining games of the season but skipper Kevin Thomson insists everyone at the club is determined to finish on a high, not go out with a whimper.
The Dark Blues lost again on Saturday against Inverness at Dens and they have been defeated in all of their top six games so far.
However, when he was asked if the players were determined not to let the season fizzle out, he said: “Of course. It will not happen. Training has been good but admittedly performances haven’t been great.
“However, would people rather we were in the bottom six and win the bottom five games or be in the top six competing against the better sides?
“That’s where we want to be but unfortunately we have come up a wee bit short against the better teams.
“This is a new team and it will certainly be a challenge for us getting there again next season but it is one we are all looking forward to.
“We have managed to pip Hamilton into sixth spot and we have been chasing St Johnstone all season. We know they will come back stronger.
“So it is up to us to keep pushing on, to try to become better players and a better team all round.”
Meanwhile, Thomson’s boss, Paul Hartley, has hit back at reports that suggested Dundee have a big budget.
The manager said: “I’ve seen some articles about how much money we’ve got and budgets.
“That’s total nonsense. We’ve brought 20 players in but nearly 20 went out.
“So we need to balance the books. We don’t have pots of money like everyone thinks we do.
“Our budget is probably down to the bottom three or four.
“We have a wage structure here and we have to work under financial constraints.
“We’ve still got a lot to play for this season and people have to understand that.
“People are playing for contracts and pride as well. It will be a different team next season.
“It will be different personnel. That will be fine as we’ll sort that out.
“I definitely think we need to strengthen in different areas.”