Steven Pressley insisted Dundee could take encouragement from their performance against Rangers at Dens Park, despite falling to a 3-0 defeat that he believes was not reflective of the game itself.
Goals from Nicolas Raskin, Mikey Moore and Djeidi Gassama secured a third straight league win for Danny Rohl’s side, but Pressley argued his players matched Rangers for large periods and created opportunities of their own.
“There was a lot of aspects in the performance that I liked today,” said the former Rangers and Celtic defender.
“I liked our intensity, our work ethic, our energy and we got into really good areas of the pitch but our final moments, our final decisions can improve.
“No doubt about that.”
Dundee started brightly, but once again were undone by a set piece, something Pressley admitted has become a frustrating recent theme.
“It’s been a strength of ours in the first ten games,” he reflected.
“But in the last couple of matches it has been our Achilles heel. The distances weren’t right, and we stepped out too early.
“When you do that against Rangers, you get punished. It was disappointing because it gave them a lift after we started well.”
Despite the setback, Pressley felt his side recovered and enjoyed spells in the first half where they were the better team.
“There were periods where we were on top,” he said.
“And if we had found that all-important goal, I think we could have really staged that comeback.
“We know there is a nervousness around Rangers at the moment, getting that goal would have been significant.”
The Dundee boss also addressed his decision to leave Simon Murray out of the starting lineup, explaining it was tactical rather than form related.
“I made a decision that we could get a focal point in another way today,” he said.
“Simon wants to play every week, and of course he was disappointed, but he responded like a true professional when he came on. The energy he brought was excellent.”
Despite suffering three defeats in a row, Pressley believes the performance was a step in the right direction.
“Last week at Hearts was a sore one and we didn’t give enough. Today was different.
“The scoreline is a little flattering. There were a lot of good things in our performance. I saw progress.”