Dundee boss James McPake has urged his players to forget Wednesday night’s horror defeat to Ross County ahead of their clash with St Mirren.
The Dark Blues were hammered 5-0 at home to the Premiership’s bottom side on a night McPake called his worst in football.
The nature of the defeat has led to calls from supporters for a change in management.
However, McPake will return to the dugout this weekend to take charge of his 89th match as Dundee manager.
And he insists the players have responded in the short time since the midweek defeat.
Now he’s called on them to show that on the pitch in Paisley.
“We have had poor performances before but I think everyone knows the other night trumped them all,” he said.
“It was a poor performance from start to finish but we need to forget about it. That’s the message to the players: put it to bed quickly and get back to work.
“They did that.
“The biggest motivation for players is winning games. Now they have the added motivation of getting Wednesday night out of the system.
“The only way to do that is to perform well at St Mirren.”
‘Players have responded’
He added: “A lot went wrong on Wednesday. We were second best all over the pitch. We were easy to play against which isn’t like us.
“The big thing for me is the players have responded in the meetings and the sessions.
“We have to get back to do the stuff that made us a good side. How we can hurt teams and what we can do to get that out of our system.
“The players are hurting as much as anybody.
“They are desperate to get out on the pitch and put it right – they have a chance to do that tomorrow.”
Changes?
And his manager confirmed he is considering changes to his starting XI.
“You have to think what the best XI we can pick to play against St Mirren is,” McPake added.
“That will include some from the other night but there will potentially be changes too.
“We have a decent squad here that we can mix and match.
“There are options to change it.
“We had a strong team on Wednesday night but we didn’t turn up. We didn’t get it right and weren’t even close.
“People will get opportunities but they are all desperate to get out on the pitch.
“Some to put it right, some to prove they should be on the pitch.”
Injury news
Dundee’s options are likely to be boosted by the return of midfielder Max Anderson after he missed the Ross County match with illness.
McPake said: “Max should be available, he’s a lot better. He had a bit of a bug but he should be back.
“We have no fresh injuries.”
