“The first five minutes of the second half are probably on me.”
Dundee defender Cammy Kerr prides himself on his one-on-one defensive ability.
However, in a brutally honest assessment of his own performance against Celtic on Sunday, the 26-year-old admits he has to up his game.
“I have to look at myself,” Kerr said.
“The first five minutes of the second half are probably on me.
“My game is to stop the attackers and I didn’t do it. I take the blame for that.”
‘I’ll take that on myself’
Kerr wasn’t the only one pushed and pulled by the energy and movement of Celtic’s impressive attack in the 4-2 defeat at Dens Park.
Ange Postecoglou’s side roared into a two-goal lead through Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi before Dundee woke up and got a goal back.
Second-half plans to get back level, however, were shelved within five minutes of the restart.
First Jota beat Kerr in the box to make it 3-1 on 57 minutes before leaving the Dundee man on the floor and teeing up Kyogo for 4-1.
Some players might deflect blame or look at others – Kerr, though, is looking hard in the mirror.
“Don’t get me wrong, Celtic are a good side but you pride yourself on your defensive displays against those teams one-on-one,” he added.
“To be fair, I think I dealt with it well in the first half but the quality they have – two instances in the first five minutes and they punish you.
“They are top quality players and the way they move the ball is great.
“I’m just being brutally honest.
“It is a learning curve for me.
“I always try and look at my own game.
“In the first half I let them have it, watch the one-twos and match them for pace after that.
“Then once I won it a few times I thought I’d go tighter and I think that’s when they show you their quality.
“I probably got too attracted to the ball, then they suck you in and punish you.
“I’ll take that on myself.”
Character has been questioned
Despite his own personal disappointment, Kerr believes the Dark Blues can take some positives out of Sunday’s performance.
“The boys dug in and we could have went under when it went 2-0 but we didn’t,” Kerr added.
“We showed some resilience to get goals back and get back in the game.
“We can take something out of it. There have been questions about the character after losing to Ross County.
“We bounced back with a great result against St Mirren. It’s about showing that again going forward.
“We have a wee break now so it’s important we rest up but also work on the things we need to.”
3 talking points from Dundee’s disappointing defeat to Celtic
