Tony Docherty believes the good thing about his Dundee history makers is that they want to come in and improve every day.
The Dark Blues ended their 69 year wait for a derby win in the Scottish Cup with their 1-0 victory over Dundee United on Monday night. Docherty haș built up a young and vibrant side and admitted they just want to strive to get better and become the best version of themselves, collectively and individually.
He said: “Somebody said to me it’s 69 years since Dundee beat Dundee United in the Scottish Cup. So that’s a huge achievement. I said to them, marvel at that because you’ll go down in history. They have to grow and they have to develop. But I’ve got to say, they’re such a brilliant bunch to work with. They’re so conscientious.
“Every day we come in and I say that to them. I won’t let them leave having not learned something every day and you can see that. I think you can see the development of the team as the season’s gone on. And I think that’s typified. That’s our last three home games.
“We’ve played first, second and third in the league and came away with two draws and a win against three really good teams. Dundee United are there, third on merit and I think the players should take a lot of confidence from that.”
The Taysiders will look to keep their impressive run going but Docherty knows they will be pushed to the limit away to champions Celtic on Saturday. His team will go there confident from the recent Dens Park clash, where it took a 93rd minute penalty from Arne Engels to rescue a point for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Docherty added: “As I said, that run we’ve been on recently, particularly the home run, has been good but we know how difficult Celtic will be. We nearly created a bit of history against Celtic out there last time. Albeit the last-minute goal stopped that.
“I think the players should take a lot of confidence from that and I think what we’re doing now is that we’re showing a real good organisation about our team with a real counter-attacking threat that’s serving us well.”
Meanwhile, Burnley have cut short Julien Vetro’s loan at Dundee. The Frenchman moved north for the season but the Clarets have decided to take him back early.
Vetro played six times for the Dark Blues but missed a chunk of the season when he collapsed before a game against Kilmarnock in November. Burnley took him back at that point to overlook his recovery.