Dundee boss John Brown has warned his shell-shocked stars that they must stand up and be counted over the coming weeks or face being frozen out at Dens Park.
Despite being installed as SPFL Championship favourites, the Dark Blues slumped to a 4-3 opening day defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Queen of the South and left Brown angry at the sloppy goals his men gave away.
And speaking ahead of tonight’s all-important Dundee FC Supporters’ Society (DFCSS) vote on proposed new investment, ‘Bomber’ has suggested that he will not hesitate to cut the dead wood from his squad and bring in new faces to boost their title chances.
“The boys have been told that that’s not acceptable and if they are not going to be up to the task then we’ll get players that will be,” Brown said.
“It’s told me a few things and it’s important that the players know the task ahead.
“They are down as favourites but you’ve got to earn the right. You’ve got to go out there and perform.
“We came back in the end and had a couple of set-pieces that gave us a sniff but if we got anything out of the game we would have been fortunate.
“We started the game really well and scored a good goal, but after the goal we never really created a great deal in the form of efforts in front of goal.
“Full credit to Jim McIntyre’s team because they carved us open on a number of occasions. I think the score flattered us.”
“We’ve got to look at ourselves and when you concede defensive goals like that, if the central defenders are not on their game and ours weren’t then it’s a hard task.
“We came back a bit in the second half when it went to 4-1 but it was a damage-limitation job.
“There were periods in the game where you need to be stronger when you don’t have possession.
“We had a back line that was very weak and when you’ve got that your midfield and your front have to come back to try and protect it.”
Brown could soon be given funds to strengthen his squad if the proposed £650,000 cash injection from Football Partners Scotland (FPS) is given the go ahead, and tonight could see that prospect take a step closer.
The club’s majority shareholders, in the shape of DFCSS, will meet at the Gardyne Theatre this evening to discuss whether or not to allow the club to issue sufficient new shares to give the Texas-based FPS consortium a controlling interest in Dundee FC.
If DFCSS vote in favour, a subsequent meeting will be held by the club’s board tomorrow to effectively rubber-stamp the investment.
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