Nicky Riley insists the Dundee players share the fans’ frustration at failing to close the gap on Championship leaders Hamilton Accies.
A goalless draw at Dens on Saturday left the Dark Blues still trailing the early pacesetters by five points.
While there could have been a better outcome, though, things could also have been much worse, particularly if goalkeeper Kyle Letheren hadn’t produced a man of the match display.
The result wasn’t what the vast majority of the 4,155 crowd wanted and Riley acknowledged as much. Accies bossed the first period and could have been three or four goals up but for the interventions of Letheren and the woodwork.
In one sequence around the 10-minute mark, Letheren did brilliantly to tip Darian MacKinnon’s shot over then watched as Mikey Devlin’s header was cleared off the line by Willie Dyer.
The goalie was called on again almost straight away, this time pushing James Keatings’ header on to the bar.
Things got better for Dundee after the interval, with winger Riley adding much-needed craft and pace when brought on for Dyer on 53 minutes. Neither team could grab a winner, though.
“I think on reflection that a draw was a fair result,” said Riley.
“Hamilton were the better team in the first half but we came more into it in the second. It is a disappointment not to have gotten the three points but we are still reasonably happy with a point.
“I think we could have won it and created a few chances in the second half. It just wasn’t to be. The fans are frustrated but so are the players because we know we are not playing as well as we can do.
“We feel like they do. We are turning up for games confident that we can win and really looking to play well. When we don’t get a victory it is frustrating so we can understand how the supporters feel.
“It is still early in the season though. There is still a long way to go. This is just the first quarter and a lot can happen yet. At least the gap between us and Hamilton isn’t any bigger than it was before the game.
“That may be the most improtant thing to take out of the match. I am sure we can put it right and there is better to come from the team.”
Riley was quick to praise Letheren and argued that the big man is benefiting from being a number one keeper in his own right rather than a deputy.
“Kyle has just come in this season and has looked good in training,” he added.
“Against Hamilton, he looked really classy and his saves kept us in it at times. He is a big, strong guy and really looks after himself you can see that.
“Kyle has come here as the number one choice and that’s maybe the first time that’s been the case for him.
“It looks like it is good for him to be here, getting games for Dundee and performing well. Hopefully, he will be a big player for us as the season progresses.”
Dundee manager John Brown once again delegated the post-match media duties to his assistant Ray Farningham, who said: “We were fortunate to go in at half-time at 0-0.
“In the second half we were slightly better and we upped the tempo a wee bit. It was still disappointing that we didn’t make their keeper work enough in the game.
“Kyle had a few good saves and kept us in the game. We can certainly pass the ball better and will be working on that in training.
“I just think the quality wasn’t good enough, whether that be passes into the strikers or from defence into midfield.
“We need to move the ball a lot more quickly. It was a wee bit flat.”
New boy Craig Beattie made his starting debut but failed to make any real impact before being replaced by Steven Doris before the hour mark.
Pre-match concerns about his lack of match fitness were realised and it was obvious that both Doris and fellow sub Riley enhanced Dundee’s attacking options when on the park.
Farningham added: “That is his first game in a while so he was a wee bit short of match fitness.
“It wasn’t for any lack of effort on his part.”
Hamilton player-boss Alex Neil has his team well drilled, worked both channels well and created some golden chances.
Former Dens frontman Mickael Antoine-Curier was a handful up front without scoring and his personal battle with marker Declan Gallagher was a highlight of the game.
The league leaders have a confident look about them and won’t easily be caught.
Neil, who had a fine match himself, said: “I thought we were totally dominant in the first half and had three, four or even five really good chances.
“Their keeper made some great saves and we hit the bar as well. I think that was as good as we have played away from home in terms of dominating the ball.
“I thought in the second half that Dundee rallied a wee bit but didn’t really create any clear-cut opportunities.
“So I was really happy with the team and I think we deserved to win the match. The only disappointing thing was that we didn’t get the goal our performance deserved.”