Dundee boss Paul Hartley admits Kane Hemmings’ hat-trick against Hamilton last weekend was a fitting reward for the player’s improved workrate.
The manager revealed that he had spoken to the former Cowdenbeath striker about the need to increase that quality in his play after making the step up to the Premiership.
The chat has certainly had the desired effect with Hemmings never giving the Accies defence a moment of peace.
Hartley said: “I think Kane has been playing well over the last few weeks.
“He is a natural goalscorer and he took the chances when they came.
“I think that will be pleasing for him. He is now on nine goals and between him, Loy and Stewart, they have scored something like 22 out of 27 goals we have scored which is brilliant.
“We actually set them a little target at the start of the season and they are about halfway to what I thought they could score between the three of them.
“I think Kane’s overall workrate has really improved. That’s something we had spoken to him about at the start of the season, his attitude and his workrate, and I think he has taken that on board now.”
Dundee face a long trip to Dingwall on Saturday to face Ross County followed by the visit of Celtic to Dens next midweek before the derby with United on January 2.
Hartley admits he will be using his squad to the full to cope with the hectic schedule and he revealed that he has recalled Cammy Kerr from his loan spell at Peterhead to bolster his options.
The manager said: “We’ll probably need to use the majority of players in the next week or so with three games coming up in quick succession.
“The squad is quite tight. So we’ll need to look at that.
“There are some tough game ahead for us.
“We brought young Cammy Kerr back early on loan from Peterhead because of that.”