Goalscorer Paul McMullan admits he didn’t realise the scale of Dundee’s Covid problems until their team talk before the draw at Motherwell.
More was yet to come, however, as goalkeeper Ian Lawlor tested positive on the morning of the game against the Steelmen.
“They just kept falling, to be honest,” said Paul McMullan.
“I hadn’t even realised that big Ian Lawlor had Covid until I turned around during the pre-match talk and he wasn’t there.
“It was difficult because we had a good result against Hibs on Wednesday and you think you’re starting to build something and then you basically just have to change everything.
“But I thought the lads were great and we deserved the point.”
‘Due one’
And it was McMullan’s early strike that set Dundee on their way, pouncing on some slack defending from Stephen O’Donnell before curling into the top corner.
The winger has been much better known for laying on assists since he joined the Dark Blues from Dundee United just over a year ago.
It was only his third goal for the club, a first league goal and a first Premiership strike of his career.
McMullan admits he was “due one” and hopes to add a few more before the end of the campaign.
“That’s my first goal since a cup tie early in the season and God knows when I last scored a league goal,” he said.
“I was actually trying to tackle Stephen O’Donnell but, as he played the ball, it’s hit me and fell for me.
“Thankfully, I was able to tuck it past Liam Kelly because I had one here a few months back which hit the underside of the bar and didn’t go in so I was due one.
“I just hope that’s the start of me scoring a few more to help the team put some points on the board.”
Absolute belief
McMullan, too, thinks that despite being so low on numbers the squad are moving in the right direction as they look to get out of relegation trouble.
They have now lost just three times in their last 10 matches in all competitions, though they haven’t won in the last four.
But the winger saw improvements from the midweek draw at home to Hibs and hopes to continue in that vein as St Mirren visit on Wednesday.
He said: “We created a bit more and we also scored, which helps.
“We also had another couple of half-chances we might have tucked away but when you’re as depleted as we were then to take anything from the game was good.
“We had similar problems away to Aberdeen and I think we’ve done ourselves justice each time and not let ourselves down.
“It was encouraging and it showed the character of the lads. There’s still a belief that we can get out of this, absolutely.
“We’ve had spells when we’ve played well and we’ve also lost a few bad ones which has been reflected in our goal difference.
“We’re competing with just about everyone in the division but we need to find consistency and we need to find it fast otherwise we won’t be able to show it next year.”
He added: “We’re taking this result as a positive.
“We have our game in hand of them against St Mirren in midweek.
“We’ll get ourselves rested, prepare for that and, hopefully, we can move closer to them or even move above St Johnstone.”
