Simon Murray demands Dundee stay ‘level-headed’ after free-scoring start

Simon Murray has warned his Dundee team-mates not to let the excitement about their free-scoring start to the season go to their heads.

The Dark Blues have notched 29 goals in just seven competitive games this term – 24 in the Premier Sports Cup and five in their two Premiership matches.

Supporters are enthused about what may lie ahead for their side on the back of an encouraging top-six finish last season, but Murray insisted the players cannot get caught up in the early-campaign hype.

“At the moment we’re doing well and we’re dangerous,” said Murray ahead of Saturday’s trip to struggling Hibernian. “Teams will be looking at us, which is credit to how well we’ve started, but we need to keep level-headed and keep taking it one game at a time.

“It’s been a good start, we’ve scored a good amount of goals in the League Cup and in the first two league games. But football’s got a way of bringing you back down to earth so we just need to keep doing the basics right and training hard, and hopefully it continues.

“When you start listening to outside noise, you can sometimes take your foot off the pedal or start to do things you weren’t doing before but the manager has got us all focused day to day and staying together as a group to try and continue doing what we’re doing.”

Murray has scored five goals since returning to Dundee from Ross County earlier this summer and the 32-year-old striker is loving being part of a side enjoying such a vibrant start to the campaign.

“I’m still getting used to the way players are playing and they’re getting used to the way I play but there’s a real energy in the team,” he said. “It’s real front-foot. There are a lot of runners, a lot of legs and pressing from the front.

“It certainly seems at the moment that we’ve got a real threat going forward. I’m excited to play in the team and in front of the boys that are behind me.

“It’s certainly better like this than being in a team where there are no chances being created, I’ve been there before! It’s great that there are chances being created, and long may that continue.”