Dundee

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

The stats surrounding Dundee are pretty damning.

Lets assess their past half dozen fixtures - St Mirren (away), Aberdeen (away), Celtic (home), Falkirk (away), Hearts (away) and Rangers (home).

Yes, it is a tough run, but even factoring that in it is very difficult to find much positive from a Dundee point of view.

They have lost five of those six games - the one they won, an excellent 2-0 victory over Celtic, is looking increasingly like an outlier amid the gloom.

In that sequence of matches they have conceded 14 goals, an average of more than two a game. At the other end they have only scored three.

It doesn't take a deep dive to see that all of the above is not good enough.

And they will get little comfort from taking a peak at their next six games – Hibernian (away), St Mirren (home), Celtic (away), Aberdeen (home), Livingston and St Mirren (both away).

We should get a clearer picture of how things are going to play out for Steven Pressley's side after that little lot.

These are worrying times for Dundee fans. Their team find themselves second bottom of the Premiership having played a game more than a number of the teams above them.

And unless Pressley can find a way to turn things round, it could be a very bleak winter at Dens Park.

Ethan Hampton
Fan writer

Dundee's season is in danger off going off the rails.

The latest defeat came without laying a glove on a Rangers side who have clear fragilities. It was a sharp contrast to the aggression and discipline from our last victory, against Celtic.

Jon McCracken kept the score down with some excellent saves and he has notably improved this season.

With trips to Hibernian and Celtic on the horizon, there's little to get excited about in the prospect of following Dundee across the country.

We desperately need to see improvement after the international break, particularly by bolstering our home form as we're soon to host teams around us.

There are eight games until we can possibly recruit in the January window, we sit ahead of bottom place by a mere point and trail sixth-place Motherwell by six points. While I expect the league to remain tight, there is a risk we fall behind.

We look a one man band in the final third through Cameron Congreve. If he is kept quiet we don't have any other avenue towards goal.

The impact of substitute pairing Simon Murray and Yan Dhanda, at least in terms of the balance of our play, is one of the few positives from Sunday. That duo might be the ace in the hole to prevent us being a one-dimensional team.

I think many fans realise this season is not building on the foundations of the past two years. This is a survival campaign trying to lay new groundworks for the future.

Steven Pressley has remained calm and measured despite the setbacks, but he needs to figure out how to address our creative woes if he wants to ensure he's the man to lead Dundee.

We asked for your views on Dundee's 3-0 defeat by Rangers.

Here's what some of you said:

George: Complete garbage. No fight, no idea, get rid of the manager and replace him with someone who can mould a team. All we do is defend and we are getting worse at that each week. There is a two-week break, a perfect time to get a new manager, or it will be the Championship again. Make sure that you choose the correct manager this time and not the cheapest option. Someone who knows what they are doing.

Stephen: An embarrassing performance home and away. Steven Pressley has to go or it will be relegation done and dusted before you know it.

Gary: With a number nine that's a waste of a shirt, defenders who don't want to do their jobs and a clueless manager, we're awful. Where is the progress that warrants Pressley keeping his job? He can't affect the game in a positive way for us and is clearly even unable to react to what his team are up against. We're in dire straits.

John: Dreadful defending for the first two goals. Smallest man on the park outjumps the Dundee defence for the opener. Terrible. Don't think we had one meaningful shot on target. How much longer are the Americans going to give Pressley because this team is going in only one direction, the Championship.

Carl: Poor defending cost us the two first-half goals, but poor team formation and the wrong tactics cost us the game. Long balls by Rangers had our defenders facing their own goal far too many times, and the gaps in our setup were exploited time after time. The manager must accept responsibility for not changing our shape to counteract this. Praise must be given to the players who all kept their heads up and plugged away against all the odds. Early days still, but it's going to be a long season if we continue with the managers defensive attitude. How many shots did we have on target?

Alan: No intensity from Dundee, a lack of fight and very little goal threat - none of our forwards has scored for weeks! We were up against a mediocre Rangers side and barely laid a glove on them. How our manager can find positives in this is beyond me. Championship here we come!

Watch highlights from Rangers' 3-0 win over Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.

Available to UK users only.

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Dundee head coach Steven Pressley: "I liked a number of aspects about our performance. I thought we were aggressive and pressurised the game.

"The players worked exceptionally hard and I thought we got into some really good attacking areas. The finer details around the final cross, the final moment can improve.

"Losing the goal from a set-play after a good start from ourselves was very disappointing.

"After losing the second goal, it's very easy for a team that's fragile to go under and we didn't. We responded brilliantly. The players should be pround

"Against Hearts we suffered badly and there wasn't enough to take from that performance but I thought today there was a lot to take.

"I'm not going to kid anyone on, of course we need to win more games, but I will say there is still a belief around the players.

"I've been in football for 35 years and to be involved for that length of time you need to show some grit and I'll continue to do that."

Rangers were comfortable winners at Dens Park, with Nico Raskin, Mikey Moore and Djeidi Gassama on target.

You can read the match report here.

Rangers supporters must be pleased with much-improved league form, while that win over Celtic last month must seem like a long time ago for Dundee followers.

Rangers fans, give us your thoughts here.

Dundee fans, have your say here.

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Dundee boss Steven Pressley is braced for a Rangers side intent on pressing his team under the recently-appointed Danny Rohl.

Rohl has succeeded Russell Martin at Ibrox and former Scotland defender Pressley - who worked at Brentford as head of player development before taking over at Dens Park - believes he knows what to expect from the former Sheffield Wednesday boss.

"I met Danny a year or so ago," Pressley said as he looked ahead to Sunday's Scottish Premiership game.

"He came into Brentford with the Barca manager [Hansi Flick].

"I spoke to him and he's very knowledgeable. He has good ideas in the game.

"He's from a background with emphasis on pressing. We've seen that in his team.

"He's changed the system to go to a 3-4-3 formation but he's also changed in games against Celtic and Roma to go to a back four.

"We don't know what they will play at the weekend, they might play with a three or might play with a four but we need to be ready for whatever system they play."

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Dundee are set to have Yan Dhanda available after he was unable to face parent club Hearts last weekend. However, manager Steven Pressley revealed he has "several" unnamed players struggling with injury.

Rangers remain without Rabbi Matondo (knee), Dujon Sterling (Achilles) and Kieran Dowell (foot).

Dundee must show "hunger and passion in every pass and tackle" but will have no fear facing Rangers this weekend, says Dark Blues defender Billy Koumetio. (The Courier)

Read the rest of Saturday's gossip.

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Steven Pressley hopes the "right Dundee turn up" against Rangers on Sunday as they bid to bounce back from last weekend's 4-0 thrashing at Hearts.

The Dark Blues are second bottom of the Premiership with two wins from 11, but have shown their potential by drawing away to Rangers in August and then beating Celtic 2-0 at home last month.

"We're not creating enough chances, not scoring enough goals, I know that," said manager Pressley, whose team have lost four of their last five matches.

"We need to use the ball better, there are a lot of things to improve on.

"The last time we played Rangers at Ibrox, we got the balance right, the same against Celtic.

"The frustration is we haven't shown that on a consistent basis so hopefully the right Dundee turn up on Sunday.

"Our form at home has been positive, but our away form has been really disappointing.

"We've had really encouraging performances at home, the most recent beating Celtic, so we should go into the game believing at Dens we are a very capable team.

"We had a real disappointment at the weekend but we've regrouped and refocused and hopefully we can give the right type of performance."

Pressley revealed he has "several injury concerns" for Sunday although did not want to reveal the identity of those struggling.

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

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If Dundee are to pull off an autumn Old Firm double by beating Rangers on Sunday, there's a good chance Cameron Congreve will be involved.

Steven Pressley's side have only scored nine goals in 11 league outings and the on-loan Swansea City midfielder has set up five of them.

He had a hand in both in the shock 2-0 victory over Celtic last month, delivering the corner headed in by Clark Robertson and tying Liam Scales in knots before Cameron Carter-Vickers knocked into his own net.

The 21-year-old may not be the quickest but has fabulous close control and is a real menace when running at defenders.

Congreve seemed to relish the big occasion as the Dark Blues enjoyed a first home win over Celtic since 1988.

Their last success against Rangers came in 2017, having lost 14 of the past 18 meetings in all competitions.

Read all the Premiership picks

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• Dundee are winless in 18 meetings with Rangers in all competitions (D4 L14) since a 2-1 league victory in November 2017.

• Rangers have only failed to score in one of their past 17 away games at Dundee in all competitions (35 goals in total), doing so in a 0-0 draw in April 2024.

• Dundee have won their past two home league games, more than their previous 14 beforehand (W1 D5 L8).

• Rangers have won their two league games under Danny Rohl, more than they won in eight league matches under Russell Martin and Steven Smith combined (W1 D6 L1). The German could become the seventh manager to win his first three top-flight matches in charge of Rangers after Bill Struth, David White, William Waddell, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement.

• Dundee are averaging 36.1% possession in the Scottish Premiership this season; on Opta's records in the competition (from 2019-20), only one side have had a lower ratio in a campaign in the competition (Hamilton in 2019-20, 35.8%).

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

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Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Dundee fans were wildly celebrating after beating Celtic at home for the first time in 37 years.

Seventeen days - and two defeats later - head coach Steven Pressley is again facing intense heat from a support he is still struggling to win over.

The majority of the fanbase were underwhelmed by the appointment of the former Scotland defender, whose reign began with back-to-back League Cup group defeats to lower-league opposition - Airdrieonians and Alloa.

A deserved point at Ibrox flickered life into Pressley's tenure, with draws against Kilmarnock and Motherwell, plus a win over Livingston, coming over the next four games.

It is somewhat surreal to look at Dundee's form in the five matches that have followed.

Sandwiched between four away losses at St Mirren, Aberdeen, Falkirk and Hearts is that memorable victory against the reigning league champions.

Pressley was well worth his win over Brendan Rodgers, who has since resigned from his post as Celtic boss, but the goodwill of that triumph is quickly evaporating.

In the four away games split either side of that 2-0 success, Dundee have shipped 11 goals and scored just one.

The Dens Park side are yet to win a league game on the road this term, losing four and drawing two, including Saturday's 4-0 loss at Hearts.

Pressley's men sit 11th after 11 games, two points above bottom club Livingston and just one off League Cup finalists St Mirren in eighth.

Though it is still early in the campaign, things will have to improve given the Dundee board sacked Tony Docherty for leading the team to a 10th-placed finish last term, saying results "have not met the standards expected".

The manner of the defeats seems to be increasing frustration among the support, with Pressley's side scoring nine goals in 11 matches and averaging the lowest possession in the division (36%).

Although Falkirk and Livingston have conceded more goals, Dundee have faced the most shots in the league.

They also, by a distance, have the fewest shots, touches in the opposition box and successful passes in the opposition half.

However, despite being the team who have created the fewest chances, they have one of the best chance creators in the Premiership in Cameron Congreve, who leads the assists chart with five.

The on-loan Swansea winger has been a real bright spark for Pressley, who has also shown promise in his role by taking four points in two games against the Old Firm.

With Rangers visiting Dens on Sunday, the Dundee boss will back his team to cause another upset, but performances and results need to be more stable in order to keep a disgruntled fanbase off his back.

Ethan Hampton
Fan writer

After another brutal result on the road it would be easy to rub salt in the wounds of the players - to criticise performances and pile into the existing shaming on social media.

I will say, however, Dundee are displaying a weak mentality when facing setbacks. As we saw at Pittodrie, as soon as we fell behind there was no indication we could claw our way back.

It was one-way traffic and history repeated itself at Tynecastle, although Hearts were excellent. Easily the best team we've faced this season, and deservedly top of the table.

We simply fell victim to their great run of form - no different to most of the league, as only Motherwell and St Mirren have avoided defeat to Hearts.

So while I'm annoyed and frustrated by the result, I am in no rush to panic just yet. Not unless this sort of scoreline becomes a recurring theme.

Our away form has been dreadful. I knew the defeat to Falkirk was a big missed opportunity at the time, but a quick glance at our home record shows we're unbeaten in the last three at Dens.

After the disaster at Pittodrie we bounced back by beating Celtic, proving we're capable of a reaction. After this drubbing at Tynecastle, I'm hopeful we can deliver another emphatic response when Rangers visit on Sunday.

We have a full week to prepare. Dens Park has been a tricky venue for Rangers in recent years and they'll face us on the back of two high-intensity matches, the League Cup semi-final loss to Celtic and a Europa League clash with Roma.

This will be a test of Dundee's tenacity, but there may be no better time to take them on - and cause another upset.

Watch Sportscene pundit Neil McCann discuss Dundee's defence.

Defender Drey Wright admits Dundee were "outfought and outplayed" at Hearts. (The Courier)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.

Watch highlights as Hearts cruise to a 4-0 win against Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on Dundee's 4-0 defeat against Hearts.

Here's what some of you said:

Adam: We are in serious trouble this season, mainly due to the terrible set up and tactics employed by Steven Pressley. The players aren't as bad as the performances, so if he can't get a tune out them, get someone else in. Take John Nelms with him, who is never a managing director of a football club.

Ross: What can you say? It's another ridiculous chapter in the DFC book of poor managerial choices. He has to go, or we are doomed.

Richard: How long are Dundee willing to take this road to disaster? Eleven games in and the manager believes we are still improving. 20 games in and still rock bottom, what next?

Martin: Pressley is out of his depth. He only knows one way to play. Defend and try to hit on the break. Zero shots on target.

Peter: It's time for change, that performance was awful. Pressley is a failure and has to be removed. Going forward we will be relegated.

Alan: Absolutely dire yet again! Our manager is miles out of his depth, there is no cohesion to our play, very few goal attempts, schoolboy defending and a distinct lack of grit and fighting spirit.

Nelms has got it wrong once again in appointing Pressley. Dundee are doomed to relegation unless there are urgent and drastic changes!

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Dundee head coach Steven Pressley felt his side were in the game until Lawrence Shankland's 31st-minute opener in his side's defeat by Hearts and conceded they were well turned over by the Scottish Premiership leaders.

"We came here and had a genuine quiet belief around maybe getting a result here," he said. "We've demonstrated, against some of the best teams, that when we get it right, we can be competitive.

"I thought we started the game reasonably aggressively in the first 30 minutes. I didn't think we gave up many opportunities and frustrated Hearts without causing them too many problems, apart from Cam Congreve's effort.

"We then lost a really poor goal and a second one quite quickly after that. One of the real disappointments for me is that we came into this game as the only side not to lose a goal from a corner kick - and we lost two today.

"When you come to the top-of-the-table team, the one thing you can't do is lose two goals from set plays. That's really disappointing, because we really pride ourselves on that organisation."

Dundee miss a chance to move up to eighth in the Scottish Premiership after a comprehensive defeat away to leaders Hearts.

Steven Pressley's second-bottom side are now only two points clear of Livingston, who grabbed a late draw with Hibernian.

Read Clive Lindsay's match report.

Give us your thoughts.

Dundee defender Luke Graham is just concentrating on playing, with the Scottish Premiership club keen to improve his contract that runs until 2027. (Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

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Falkirk are still missing Leon McCann with a knock along with long-term absentees Lewis Neilson (ankle), Coll Donaldson (abdomen), Tom Lang (foot), Aidan Nesbitt (foot) and Jamie Sneddon (hernia).

Killie are assessing two unnamed players following Wednesday's defeat by Aberdeen. Goalkeeper Max Stryjek (medical issue), Lewis Mayo (calf), Jamie Brandon (ankle/groin), Djenairo Daniels (knee), Marley Watkins (heel) and Matty Kennedy (hip) are out.