LEE WILKIE: Dundee asserted Championship dominance but must follow it up against bottom side Hamilton

Dundee have sent out a message to the rest of the Championship with the manner of their victory over league leaders Queen’s Park.

The 3-0 win, to me, was the Dark Blues asserting their dominance over the rest of the division.

They are now two points off top spot with a game in hand so they are in pole position.

The key is to ensure the form they’ve shown against the top teams is continued against Hamilton this coming weekend.

Because those are the games where Gary Bowyer’s side have fallen down this term.

Their only two league losses since the start of October have come against Cove Rangers and Arbroath.

But they’ve been impressive against Queen’s Park and Ayr in recent weeks.

Ruthlessness

Boss Bowyer, though, has been talking about the finishing of his side and lack of ruthlessness throughout the season.

And that probably tells the story of their relative struggles against the teams at the other end of the table.

Teams that may sit in and try to stay tight, those are games were you need to be clinical in taking your chances when they come along.

I’m pleased that Bowyer immediately set about challenging his players, despite seeing off the league leaders 3-0.

That tells me he’s looking at the bigger picture.

There will be games between now and the end of the season where turning a draw into a win or a loss into a draw hinges on one single chance.

The difference between champions and also-rans is the ability to take those chances.

Transfers

He may be able to find that difference in the transfer market between now and midnight tomorrow.

That’s not an easy task, I know.

But if Zak Rudden is departing, they’ll need another striker in the building before the window slams shut.

A foil for new signing Kwame Thomas would be ideal, someone to play off the target man and hopefully get the goals Dundee need.

To be fair, they haven’t been short of goals in recent weeks and do spread the goals around.

I just don’t know how long that can last, though.

Queen’s Park and Ayr are at the top of the table because they score lots of goals and have a leading goalscorer in their ranks.

Frustration

Dundee are slightly different and rely a bit more on being defensively sound.

Another clean sheet on Saturday against one of the league’s top scorers shouldn’t be sniffed at.

But that’s where the frustration comes back.

Because they were anything but defensively sound in those games against Cove and Arbroath, conceding seven times in those two games.

That should serve as a warning ahead of this weekend.

Beating top of the league one week doesn’t mean you will automatically see off the bottom side the following week.

Hamilton is a big test, yet another one.

Pass it and Dundee will assert their dominance even further.