Tony Docherty has urged his Dundee side to up their attacking intensity when the Premeirship kicks off this weekend.
The Dark Blues completed their Viaplay Cup group stage campaign with a 1-0 victory over Inverness.
That was a third win in four games but ultimately wasn’t enough to qualify for the last-16 as they fell one goal short.
On the whole, however, Docherty was pleased with his team in the second half against Caley Thistle after he made changes at the break.
Lyall Cameron and new striker Amadou Bakayoko came on at half-time before Luke McCowan emerged from the bench on 58 minutes.
“Going forward in the campaign we have to be much more front foot,” Docherty told DeeTV.
“We were in the second half on Sunday but I didn’t think we were in the first half, there were too many times we played without enough intensity to get us into the final third to score a goal.
“I thought that totally changed in the second half and the introduction of the three substitutes made a huge impact.
“That’s really important. They really made a positive impact in a game we should have won by more goals.
“But the bottom line is we didn’t.”
Scoring goals
It’s been a common theme of their early games under new boss Docherty with chances passed up and not enough goals scored.
It cost them progression in the League Cup with the 3-1 win over Dumbarton the only time in the past five pre-season and cup matches where they scored more than one goal.
And that’s where Docherty will be focusing on this week ahead of the season opener at home to Motherwell on Saturday.
“The hardest thing in football is scoring a goal,” he added.
That's one for @DundeeFC, and now they need a second! 👀
Zach Robinson breaks the deadlock 🔵 pic.twitter.com/E1j8m8fmpZ
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) July 30, 2023
“That is the thing that takes the most work.
“That’s something we’ll work at in training and improve.
“I think with the introduction of Amadou Bakayoko we’ll have more opportunity to do that.
“We need to look at areas we can improve and we’ll work hard to do that.”
Tony Docherty on Shaun Byrne
Meanwhile, Docherty is happy with his squad but revealed post-match on Sunday that he is keen to add even more new faces this week.
Numbers are such that experienced midfielder Shaun Byrne was left out of the 20-man matchday squad.
The experienced midfielder is yet to play a minute in competitive football for the Dark Blues this season.
“I decided to go with the extra attacker on the bench, knowing we needed the goals,” Docherty explained to Courier Sport.
“Shaun was sacrificed for that reason, no other reason.
“I just wanted that option. We never used it but the three that came on really contributed to us winning.
“We need to remember we kept a clean sheet and won against a good side. There needs to be perspective but the overriding feeling is we didn’t do enough to qualify.”
