Stephen O’Donnell is delighted at Dundee’s 100% start to the season, despite some critics saying they are fortunate to be in that perfect position.
The Dark Blues beat Partick Thistle with a last-minute penalty that was described in several reports as being in the “soft” category.
O’Donnell wasn’t bothered about that and is just happy to be going into Tuesday night’s Ramsdens Cup tie against Falkirk with three wins in three competitions.
“There are times when you need to grind it out and maybe we did that on Saturday,” he said.
“It is still early in the season and players take time to settle down.
“For me, the only thing that matters is that we won the game and are now off to a great start.”
He added, “We have won our first three games in three different competitions (Arbroath in the Ramsdens, Dumbarton in the Scottish Communities League Cup then Thistle) and all of them have been away from home.
“You can’t do more than that!”‘Difficult draw’While the Dark Blues were sneaking past the Jags, Falkirk were losing to Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park.
The Bairns have lost several of their better players over the summer but O’Donnell is still expecting a tough time.
“It will be a good cup-tie between two decent teams,” he said.
“It is a difficult draw but if you are going to go and win the tournament you need to beat the bigger teams that are left in it.”
Dens manager Barry Smith, who will be without injured duo Graham Bayne and Steven Milne, is looking forward to yet another road trip.
He said, “We were happy to come away from a tough game with three points on Saturday but the way we did it shows the boys are working hard right to the last minute.”‘Positives’ for BairnsHe added, “Falkirk have made a few changes to their squad but they will still be very difficult opponents.
“I think we can do better than we did against Partick but we can also take confidence from knowing we can do better but still managed to get a victory.”
Bairns captain Darren Dods is available to face the Dens men, with his red card at the weekend against Raith Rovers seeing him serve a suspension in the league against Partick Thistle this weekend.
Manager Steven Pressley is being upbeat despite going down to the Rovers.
He said, “There are lots of positives to build on as we played well at Stark’s Park and it was just our final ball that let us down.
“This season is all about progression at Falkirk and defeating Dundee would be a great sign of that progress.”
Midfielder Mark Millar returns after a ban, however defender Stephen Kingsley and midfielder Blair Alston both face a race against time to be fit for kick-off.