Tony Docherty says Dundee’s precarious situation is not lost on the players

Dundee manager Tony Docherty said his players are ready to meet the challenge after being dragged right back into a relegation battle.

A 2-1 defeat by Motherwell on Wednesday and St Johnstone’s victory over Ross County saw the bottom club cut the gap to three points on Dundee at the foot of the William Hill Premiership table.

Dundee were 12 points clear of the Perth side after being denied victory over Celtic by a stoppage-time Arne Engels penalty on January 14 but defeat on Saturday could see them slump to the bottom.

“We are where we are,” Docherty said. “I won’t sit here and make excuses, we all realise where we are and know we need to mount a real challenge.

“I feel the players are ready to meet that challenge. When I see them react in the second half and play in a way that is more befitting of a Dundee team, we’ll be OK.

“We’ll meet that challenge.”

Docherty will aim to focus on the game and the performance rather than start worrying about the league table.

“That’s the job, that’s what I need to do and make sure the players are focused,” he said.

“You can’t allow us to get caught up. A season can be turbulent but it’s important that you focus on the process and the process is trying to get consistency of performance, and it you do that, it leads to consistency of results.”