Dundee should have left a sodden Dens Park with all three points on their Premiership return says boss Tony Docherty.
Lyall Cameron’s second half header levelled things as the rain poured after Theo Bair’s first-half opener for Motherwell.
Docherty was full of praise for the desire of his side to get back into the game as they stepped back into top-flight football.
And they could have earned victory but for the post denying Cameron a second.
“I was really disappointed to go into the break 1-0 down, I thought we were the better team,” the Dens gaffer said.
“We could have done better with the breakaway.
“I said to the boys to keep believing and to keep doing what they were doing.
“I was delighted with the response from the players and the response we got from the crowd because they saw us on the front foot.
“I’m a little disappointed not to win the first home game but in the Premiership when you go behind it is important to show the resolve and mentality to not give up the ghost.
“We showed that in abundance and I thought we should have taken all three points.”
‘Biblical downpour’
There was some concern the first match of the season might get called off thanks to torrential rain on the morning of the game.
Pools of standing water covered one corner of the pitch with club groundstaff Brian and Brian Robertson working relentlessly to get the game on.
And as soon as the whistle blew, the rain started again.
“I was concerned it might get called off,” Docherty admitted.
“The corner of the pitch was pretty bad when I came in.
“There was a biblical downpour earlier on so credit to the groundstaff for the work they did.
“The conditions did play a part – I thought they played a part in the goal with Lee Ashcroft’s clearance – but I thought the players did play it well.”
Antonio Portales
By this point Ashcroft had moved to the left side of the three-man backline after the early injury to summer signing Antonio Portales.
He limped off after just six minutes following a collision with ’Well frontman Connor Wilkinson.
“He seemed to land awkwardly on his knee,” Docherty added.
“We had to reshuffle but that shows the sign of good players and a good squad.
“It was disappointing and the medics are with him.
“We don’t have an assessment right now but we’ll know more tomorrow.”
Trevor Carson
There was no debut, however, for recent signing Trevor Carson.
Jon McCracken kept goal with Adam Legzdins taking a place on the bench.
St Mirren next weekend is the target for the Northern Ireland international.
Docherty said: “Trevor hasn’t done much of pre-season so we just thought we’d get more training into him.
“He trained today and rather than sit on the bench he got some training in but should be ready for next week.”
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