Dundee boss Neil McCann is looking for his “sheepish” players to right a lot of wrongs against Partick Thistle at Dens today.
The raging manager ripped into his squad following Tuesday night’s defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle, labelling their performance a joke.
McCann has certainly not changed his opinion regarding that brutal assessment and he is determined there will be a big response against bottom-of-the-table Jags who will arrive at Dens knowing they will leapfrog the Dark Blues if they can win.
McCann said: “We have had our say and I think I have made it very clear where I stand.
“I want them to put it right against Partick.
“We have not had a lot of time to train because they need to recover and the weather hasn’t helped us.
“But we have done what we need to do in terms of our shape and things.
“The players have maybe been a bit quiet and sheepish because they know what I expect and what the club expects.
“They know they have to come out and make up for it. I have told them I expect better and they agree.
“We have a lot of wrongs from Tuesday night to put right and that’s what we will try to do.”
Before the Hearts match, Dundee’s last away fixture against Ross County in Dingwall resulted in a win for the Dark Blues.
Having set the benchmark high with that victory, the manager was doubly disappointed his players fell so far from that standard when they faced the Jambos.
He said: “When you raise the bar, you can’t expect to drop it and think that’s all right.
“We are trying to move things on and I believe we did that. We found a level of consistency in terms of performance, drive and tempo.
“But that (Hearts) was miles off it.
“You set the bar, then that is the minimum and when you fall below it, it is unacceptable.
“And as I said, the fans who travelled down deserved better than that.”
McCann and his assistant Graham Gartland took in Partick’s game against Motherwell on Wednesday night with the Jags racing into a 3-0 lead only to suffer a jittery second half as the Steelmen pulled two goals back.
The Dundee boss said: “It was a real good three points for them.
“They had a great first-half performance but then Motherwell turned it around and put them on the back foot.
“At 3-0 at half-time, you are thinking it is all over but Motherwell made it a real match.
“It just proves how close this league is and how finely balanced things can be.
“If you step one side of your performance, you can come a cropper.”
Roarie Deacon and Jack Hendry had to come off injured at Tynecastle with McCann adding: “Roarie is still struggling.
“We have to be a wee bit cautious with him so he might not make tomorrow.
“We are in a bit of limbo with him as we are not sure if it is a wee strain or a knock.
“Jack Hendry is fine, though and has trained.”
