Steven Pressley relieved after Dundee’s first league win and says squad has much more to offerPressley

Dundee boss Steven Pressley admitted it was a relief for his side to get their first three points of the league season, and he believes there’s a lot of improvement still to come.

After five Premiership games without victory, a 97th-minute penalty from Callum Jones secured a 3-2 win over Livingston last weekend. For Pressley, who has come in for criticism since his surprise appointment in the summer, the result was a huge lift but he also looked at the huge impact that the win had on everyone involved.

“It was certainly a monkey off our back,” he said. “I think to get the first win of the season is really important.

“Although I think there’s been a really good spirit with the group and with the players, that can only be enhanced by winning games of football.

“Thankfully, we did that, but I think what the weekend demonstrated more than that was that there is a great spirit and unity within the group.

“I think if you saw some of our own social media, some of the pictures after the goal was scored, not just the player celebrating, but all the substitutes being involved, members of staff being involved, and then the aftermath after the game.

“So I think it demonstrates the real togetherness within the group and that makes me really proud because that goes a long way to hopefully building foundations to bring success in the future.”

Now that the team has had that boost, he believes his squad, which was rebuilt over the summer with a load of new faces arriving, can take confidence and really go on to show their ability. And he intends to continue to work to make improvements both to the performances and to the group he has to pick from.

“I think there’s loads more to come,” he said. “The difficulty is when you’re trying to build during the season is that you’re also being exposed to harshness of winning and losing games, which can dent confidence.

“And sometimes you can’t see the progression because of the confidence factor.

“I do think from a lot of the players from an individual perspective, there’s a lot more to come from them. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, as I’ve said.

“Also, I think we have an imbalance with the squad that we need to address each window. and we’ll certainly work towards that, but I think there is a lot more to come.

“When we’re going to keep working really hard, we’re going to make any noises about what we’re going to do, because I’ve said, I think this is going to be a tough season, but our job is to try and improve the individuals and improve the team, and the players along with myself are determined to do that.”