The finish to Saturday’s superb 3-3 draw between Dundee and Motherwell was a real kick in the teeth for the Dark Blues.
They’d played so well throughout the 90 minutes but poor decision-making in the final stages cost them.
Tony Docherty brought it up post-match because it’s difficult to forget how similar the feeling was to that St Johnstone game earlier in the season.
Very much four points dropped.
This Dundee side is different, though.
Had it been a backs to the wall kind of performance where they finally got worn down at the end to draw, the disappointment would have been even greater.
No hanging of heads
Because previous Dundee teams just couldn’t cope with allowing four points to get away.
That could mean relegation come the end of the season.
The beauty of Docherty’s team is that you can see them coping just fine without those four points.
Yes, they could have done with them.
But there will be no hanging of heads at Dens Park this week.
It won’t dent their confidence.
If anything, it’ll only add to the determination there to improve.
From the outside, it looks like a really strong mentality throughout the squad.
Inexperience
And it is a young team, we shouldn’t forget that.
Plenty of talented youngsters in there.
Impressing hugely but also liable for consistency to slip a little at times.
And that’s where I see Saturday.
It was unlike them to concede three goals and the final equaliser was a poor one to concede.
Decision-making wasn’t great and they lost their shape a little, players being dragged out of position.
Keep your shape and it’s so difficult for the opposition to score.
That, though, comes with experience and eventually that goal will be a learning curve for a lot of these players.
Again, that comes down to the mentality of this squad.
They are frustrated but they’ll also be determined to put things right in the future.
If they use that disappointment to learn from then they’ll be better players and a better team as a whole.
Docherty has instilled that in his team already and that’s why they are doing so well this season.
Owen Beck
Another part of their success has been the form of left wing-back Owen Beck – again he was outstanding at Fir Park.
A really great goal, too.
His movement was like a top striker but then to see Stephen O’Donnell had matched the run and then feint was a bit of magic.
Beck’s knowledge of the game is excellent – I bet you could put him in any position and he’d shine.
I just hope he sticks around past January.
We’ve seen big clubs move players who are doing well but I’d be wary of that – why change things if he’s developing so quickly at Dundee?
Conversation