Gary Bowyer hailed his “ruthless” Dundee as they hammered Forfar Athletic at Dens Park.
The Dark Blues took top spot in Group H to book their place in the knockout stages of the Premier Sports Cup with their fourth win from four matches.
After defeating Queen’s Park 2-1 on Tuesday night, Bowyer urged his side to be more clinical in front of goal after passing up a number of chances.
They responded in fine fashion against the Loons with striker Alex Jakubiak bagging a first-half brace before Niall McGinn and Tyler French added further goals for a 4-0 half-time lead.
Youngster Lyall Cameron would come off the bench in the second half to slot home a fifth on 66 minutes before Stefan McCluskey netted a consolation two minutes later.
‘Wonderful goals’
“The manner of the first-half performance I was especially pleased with,” Bowyer said.
“We asked them to be ruthless in front of goal because we felt we needed to improve upon that from Tuesday.
“To be fair to them, they delivered and scored some wonderful goals. Niall McGinn’s goal was a brilliant team goal.
“It took us a while to get going, a bit slow at times but we learned from last Saturday and quickened it up.
“Disappointed with the second half but we’re only four or five weeks in so to expect it to be there for the full 90, we still have to get there.”
Alex Jakubiak
Jakubiak took his season tally to four goals in his first four competitive matches, also adding a couple more in pre-season friendlies.
Bowyer has stated he wants another striker to supplement his forward line.
But admits it’ll be difficult for anyone to get the former Watford man out of the team at this minute.
“When I first came in he said he wanted to play through the middle and the best way to ensure you do that is to score goals,” Bowyer added.
“He’s had another couple of good opportunities to come away with a hat-trick.
“We’re delighted with how he’s going about it.”
Knockout draw
The victory also sees Bowyer’s men head into Sunday’s draw as one of eight seeded teams, meaning they avoid the likes of Rangers and Celtic in the last 16.
“It sets us up nicely to go into the league campaign but we’re not kidding ourselves,” he added.
“There is a lot more work to be done.
“But the main thing was to win the group, delighted with that, now we’ll wait and see what we get.
“Whoever we get will be a tough challenge that’s for sure.”
‘I take the blame’
Forfar boss Gary Irvine, meanwhile, shouldered the blame for a poor first-half display from his side.
“I take the blame for the first half, we were too cautious,” he said.
“My players proved me wrong in the second half.
“There were harsh words said at half-time and it was about getting back to showing we are good players and getting our foot on the ball.
“I felt we did that second half.
“That’s the frustrating thing for myself because I have good players and I should have trusted them to compete with Dundee from minute one.”
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