Dundee boss James McPake insists he has no worries about leaving big name players on the bench.
On-loan Celtic man and Scotland international Leigh Griffiths didn’t play a single minute in the weekend win at St Mirren.
He was joined by club top scorer Jason Cummings in watching the 1-0 victory from the bench.
Leaving those two out and opting for Cillian Sheridan up top surprised a few.
However, McPake doesn’t expect any reaction from his two sidelined strikers other than working to get back in the team.
That’s because the likes of captain Charlie Adam and experienced midfielder Paul McGowan won’t allow any sulking from their team-mates.
‘Never had a poor reaction yet’
Asked if it was a difficult decision to leave out Griffiths and Cummings, McPake replied: “It’s difficult every week. You have to pick 11 players and some will miss out.
“We saw last year Charlie missed games, Gowser missed games.
“They are a good group and they train hard.
“Players are disappointed to be left out and I would be annoyed if they weren’t disappointed not to play.
“But they come back in the next day and work hard in training.
“In football, you will miss games.
“I’ve never had a poor reaction yet from a player. Whoever it has been, they have all reacted great.
“All you can ask is they work hard, train hard to show why they should be in the team and be ready when the chance comes.
“We saw that with Cillian against St Mirren – he did everything we asked him to do.”
‘You need them to drag people on’
After picking up 26 caps for Scotland and playing over 200 times in the English Premier League for Blackpool, Liverpool and Stoke, some players would react badly to being dropped for a Scottish Championship match.
McPake, though, says any ego from captain Adam is placed to one side as he aims to set an example for the rest of the squad.
“He’s never had an ego since the day I spoke to him about signing,” the Dens boss said.
“He just wants to do well for this football club.
“Looking back to last year when he was left out, he was probably annoyed when he was left out.
“But he sets the tone in training and shows the professionalism you need to be a top player.
“What you get with Charlie, Gowser, when they are left out, they come back with a point to prove.
“They never let you down.
“You need that in training too – you need that intensity, especially when there are younger players in the squad, you need them to drag people on.
“Whether it’s training or a game on a Saturday.
“They’ve been around the block and you need that experience in your squad.”
