Dundee were “dogged” in their determination to take three points from a scrappy performance against Hamilton.
That’s what pleased manager Gary Bowyer after Paul McMullan’s 57th-minute winner made it three victories in a row.
The three points pushed the Dark Blues to within a point of leaders Ayr United after they dropped points at Inverness.
The display may not have reached the levels of Raith Rovers seven days ago but Bowyer was pleased to see a different side to his team against the Championship’s bottom team.
“It’s a good win for us, we weren’t at our fluid best,” said Bowyer.
“Hamilton came with a gameplan and we were too slow with the ball.
“It was scrappy and it wasn’t the type of game I expected from both sides.
“But once we got our noses in front we showed a different side.
“We were dogged and showed great desire to get over the line and that was impressive from us.”
Zak Rudden
The deciding moment in the game came following a half-time switch that saw Cillian Sheridan replaced by Zak Rudden after a hamstring issue kept him out against Raith.
Rudden got on to a long ball before beating his man and sending in a fine cross for McMullan to tap home in the middle.
“We’ve talked for a while about the impact of players coming off the bench and Rudden was terrific, his movement was excellent,” Bowyer added.
“The ball from Ben Williamson, who I thought again played well for us, was terrific.
“Rudds showed composure to beat the lad and put the cross in and Paul did well to get on the end of it.”
Ian Lawlor
And goalkeeper Ian Lawlor, too, came up with big saves at key moments to earn a deserved clean sheet.
In the opening half he denied Andrew Winter with a superb stop before keeping a Dario Zanatta header out with the score still 0-0.
“He came up with a great save and I am delighted for him, he kept a clean sheet last week and he has backed it up again this week,” Bowyer added.
“There is great competition there. We have used three keepers this season for different reasons but Ian has grabbed his opportunity.”
Zach Robinson
Injuries, though, are mounting up for the Dens men.
Missing out completely were Paul McGowan, Jordan Marshall, Joe Grayson and Max Anderson through injury.
In-form striker Zach Robinson may be added to that list after limping off on the hour mark today.
And Bowyer revealed Ben Williamson and Tyler French also have complaints.
“Robinson had a tight hamstring but hopefully he’ll be OK,” Bowyer added.
“We had a few. Williamson and Tyler French we’ll have to assess too.
“We had a few missing but we carried a few as well.
“The weather and heavy pitches this week – it’s not an excuse – but it has probably had an impact.
“We’ll see how they are next week.”
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