Tony Docherty hailed Dundee’s “outstanding” performance in victory over Aberdeen as one of the best of his tenure.
The Dark Blues were deserving winners at Dens Park, though the 1-0 scoreline didn’t reflect the dominance on show from the home side.
It took a second-half VAR-awarded penalty for a handball against Dons defender Jack McKenzie to break the deadlock.
Luke McCowan was again the man for the pressure moment, stepping up to net from the spot.
Docherty was delighted by the display from his side – more than anything, he was satisfied to see work done on the training pitch pay off.
“It was a fantastic performance. One of the best of the season,” Docherty said.
“There was huge dominance in the first half. We told the players to keep going.
“The amount of opportunities we created, I was probably bemoaning our final pass or cross hitting the first man.
“But the level of performance was outstanding.
“Aberdeen came at us in the second half but I felt once we got the goal…
“The pleasing thing for me – we have been surrendering too many leads but we’ve had 10 days on the grass and in the lecture theatre to address that.
“Tonight when we went 1-0 up, I didn’t have any fear we were going to lose the game.
“Aberdeen threw a lot at us but the mentality of the team was fantastic.
“It shows me that we are learning, we are developing and improving – that’s really important to me.”
‘We can certainly be better’
And Docherty says there is more to come from his side after letting a succession of chances slip by, particularly in the first half.
Asked if it should have been a more comfortable scoreline, he replied: “It could have been. We’ll analyse the game and look at things we can do better.
“We can certainly be better in a lot of areas, maybe not hitting the first man with set-plays.
“But, listen, I can’t be anything but praiseworthy of the boys because the level of performance from every individual was fantastic.
“They deserve a huge amount of credit.”
Table
The victory saw Dundee move back into the top six thanks to Hibs drawing at Ross County following a stoppage-time equaliser for the Staggies.
Docherty, though, wants to ensure survival is secured before thinking of anything loftier.
“Tonight you look at the table we are now 12 clear of Ross County and nine clear of Aberdeen,” he added.
“That is significant.
“But with the group of players I’ve got and the staff we are, we won’t get ahead of ourselves.
“We’ll be in tomorrow and focusing on a big game against Rangers on Sunday.”
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