Dundee can’t afford to dwell on their derby day disappointment at Tannadice on Sunday.
That’s the view of manager James McPake as he attempts to lift his players ahead of Wednesday’s League Cup quarter-final at home to St Johnstone.
The Dark Blues fell to a late 1-0 defeat at rivals Dundee United thanks to an 81st-minute Ian Harkes strike.
That extended their winless run at the start of the Premiership season to six.
McPake, though, felt his side created more than enough chances to win the game.
And insists it’s only a matter of time before Dundee start finding the net again after three blanks on the trot.
He said: “We have power up there to hurt teams, the performances have been good.
“Sunday was a tough one to take. We were well in the game and had enough chances to win two games, which is really frustrating.
“We do not believe we should have lost this game. But we have and we need to move on.”
Dark blue belief
Dundee’s results may not have come in the league but they have won each of their League Cup ties this season with an aggregate score of 15-2, including beating Premiership Motherwell in the last round.
The Dark Blues haven’t reached a League Cup semi-final since 2003/04 but have an opportunity to do just that against cup holders St Johnstone.
“We need to keep believing in what we are doing,” McPake added.
“Performances are good but it is results that will keep us in this league.
“We can’t dwell on it. It is great we have a massive match coming up.
“It is great we have such big games coming up. We are back in the Premiership for that reason.
“Sunday hurts, it’s raw and it’s sore but we have to get over it fast because we have a massive game on Wednesday, a chance to get to a semi-final so we need to be ready for that.”
‘Same old story’ for Dundee as boss James McPake rues missed opportunities in derby defeat