Manager James McPake says Dundee are getting their rewards right now for sticking to their guns despite their early-season struggles.
After seeing off Tayside rivals St Johnstone 1-0 at Dens Park on Wednesday night, the Dark Blues moved out of the bottom two for the first time since September.
One of the form sides in the Premiership, McPake’s men are full of confidence after three wins in their last four games.
The Dens boss holds his hands up to some mistakes he has made this season, the 3-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park in particular.
But he points to last season and the late surge to promotion as proof that hard work can pay off.
Continuity
Asked if he has changed anything in recent weeks, McPake replied: “What we have done is stuck to what we believe in.
“We lost Charlie Adam for an extended period of time and we had people missing due to Covid, we never got continuity.
“There was a heavy defeat to Ross County when things were looking OK in certain games.
“We have been threatening to win games and doing well in games.
“As a manager you tweak it and get a very good performance against Rangers playing a back three.
‘I picked the wrong side’
“Then you go to McDiarmid Park the following week and think you’ll get the same performance.
“But they’re better at playing a back three than us, simple as that.
“That day, I’ll be honest, I picked the wrong side and they punished us that day.
“They reverted back to that on Wednesday, probably looking at that day, with Shaun Rooney playing right-sided centre-back and Michael O’Halloran at wing-back.
“I think that suited us this time because it allowed Luke McCowan loads of space on that side to hurt them.
‘We will keep recruiting’
“Have we changed anything? Not really but you do change things for certain teams.
“We played a back three against Celtic but had to change within 15 minutes to a back four.
“It’s not trying to be clever.
“We’ve not changed anything, we’ve just kept believing in what we are doing.
“We did that last year. It took us time but we got there in the end.
“When you look back now, the play-offs were pretty comfortable but the step up is huge.
“We have recruited – Ryan Sweeney, you can see why we brought him here – and we will keep recruiting.
“If we get our best players on the pitch and they are fit…”
4 talking points from Dundee’s deserved victory over St Johnstone
