As Dundee prepare for a match at Hamilton this afternoon that could have great significance for the team and its manager, club captain James McPake has given a rallying call to get the three points that will end a six-game losing streak.
The pressure is growing on Paul Hartley in the wake of Wednesday night’s crushing home defeat to Partick Thistle, leaving the Dark Blues three points adrift at the foot of the Premiership.
But, backing up what managing director John Nelms said on Thursday, McPake insisted that this is the time for everybody to pull together.
It has been a tough watch for McPake in recent weeks but he is confident the players can turn things around.
He said: “We know deep down as a squad, we are letting everybody down at the minute.
“We have no divine right to be higher up the league. You have to earn that right.
“I think we are only a goal here and there away from hopefully kick-starting our season.
“We owe it to the manager and the fans to get three points.
“It is easy for me to say we have not been good enough and I have not been playing but if I had been playing, I would have said the exact same thing.
“We need to get it sorted and I believe we have the quality in the dressing-room to do that.
“The manager has been great. His training and his plans are geared to everything we need to do to win games.
“People might say I am wrong but I feel we have brought a fair bit of success to this football club over the last two seasons.
“We have had some shock defeats like getting put out of the cup by Dunfermline but I think on the whole we have been a comfortable SPL team.
“We are still determined to progress even further and push on but at the moment it isn’t happening.
“That is the reality of it. Can we turn it around? Of course we can.
“We will turn it round. We owe it to the fans, to the manager and ourselves to turn this around.”
McPake has been helping Hartley with coaching at the club and he paid tribute to his manager for making him club captain.
He said: “It was massive for me.
“I think in the transition period, Kevin Thomson left the club and the manager came in right away and said I would be the new club captain.
“What a boost that was. I was lying thinking how long would I be out for and the manager had come into the hospital and the house a few times to see me – he didn’t need to do that.
“There were a lot of people from the club that came in to see me.
“The players were great. Cabey (assistant boss Gerry McCabe) was in, Lorraine the kit manager and Ally from the kitchen came in to see me.
“John Nelms was in with his family and he told my mum, anything we needed, the club would provide it. I also received messages from Tim Keyes in America. It meant a lot.
“And the manager stood by his word, saying as soon as I could, he would be sending me to games.
“He also wanted me on the bench and it has been a great experience.
“Normally when you are on the bench you are a sub either annoyed that you are only a replacement or wondering when you are going to get on so you aren’t really concentrating on the tactical side of things and how you would change a game.
“It has been a great education getting to see things from that point of view. It has been a learning curve for me.
“The manager has asked me for my opinion which is fantastic for me.
“It is another thing I am very thankful for.”
