Dundee defender Lee Ashcroft reveals manager frustration at up-and-down form

Dundee defender Lee Ashcroft admits manager Gary Bowyer has been frustrated with the Dark Blues’ inconsistent recent results.

They continued an under-par run on Saturday with a 0-0 home draw with Greenock Morton making it just one win from their last five matches in all competitions.

With key games coming up, Ashcroft admits it’s high time the Dee stamped some authority on the Championship.

Of the Saturday stalemate, Ashcroft said: “We are frustrated but when teams come to Dens, we need to be better.

“We knew what Morton would bring, the fighting side of the game.

“I think we handled that but our quality can be a lot better and we should be creating more chances than what we did.

“It seems we go two or three games all right and then we lose a bad game, take a step backwards.

“The gaffer has been quite frustrated with us because in training it’s been excellent but we turned up to a couple of games and weren’t at it.

“It’s about getting that consistency and the longer it goes we are getting there.

“But the sooner it happens, the better.

“The year we went up, it wasn’t pretty but we went on a run at the right time.

“I think we should be looking at doing that again.”

‘Mad league’

With only three points between Dundee and league leaders Inverness, it would be timely to put a run of results together.

And the next two fixtures for the Dark Blues are on the road to two sides above them in the table.

First up is Queen’s Park on Friday night before a trip to Firhill to face Partick Thistle the following weekend.

“You look at the results on Saturday – Queen’s Park got beat 5-0 last week and then go and win 4-0 at Partick,” Ashcroft added.

“It’s just a mad league.

“We go there full of confidence, we went there in the Premier Sports Cup and got a result.

“We know what to expect and did well to beat them at Dens as well.

“Hopefully, we can make it three out of three before we go to Thistle because we know that will be a tough game.

“I think we owe them one from the last time as well.

“But it’s one game at a time, we have a full week to work on it.”