McPake looks to derby clash after lacklustre display
Defiant Dundee manager James McPake insists his troops will be all ready to make amends in this week’s derby clash in the wake of this insipid Inverness display.
McPake watched his Dark Blues fall four points behind city rivals United following this stalemate with John Robertson’s visitors at Dens Park.
It was a far cry from last Sunday when the Championship outfit came within minutes of knocking out Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup until they lost 2-1 in agonising fashion after extra-time.
But McPake has assured the Dundee support his players won’t need any extra motivating come next Friday night’s derby with bitter rivals Dundee United at Tannadice.
He said: “It will take nothing at all to lift the boys for the derby.
“The buzz for that starts now. It’s not an excuse but everything was focused on Inverness.
“We know we need to win our home games but once we get this disappointment out our system, we’ll start looking towards the derby.
“This was just a frustrating afternoon. There wasn’t much quality in it.
“It was miles different from last week in terms of our quality which we showed against Aberdeen in the cup.”
The hosts had new loan signing Josh McPake from Rangers on the bench while Kane Hemmings was back leading the line after missing last Sunday’s defeat through injury.
Inverness were back on Tayside having lost their opening-day fixture to United 4-1 as well as going down before that to Dundee in the Betfred Cup.
It was the Highlanders who threatened first.
Aaron Doran went on one of his trademark runs and saw his shot bring out an instinctive save from Jack Hamilton.
A few minutes later, Paul McGowan’s lay-off found Danny Johnson whose low effort was well-gathered by Mark Ridgers.
Inverness remained slightly on top though as they found space to overlap down the right, which required Dundee’s defence to block some dangerous crosses into the box.
Former Dundee United stopper Coll Donaldson became the first player to be booked for a late challenge on Shaun Byrne just after the half-hour mark, and from the resultant free-kick Declan McDaid had his curling effort tipped over the bar by Ridgers.
It took until the 42nd minute for Hemmings to catch his first real glimpse of goal.
But as the home support rose in anticipation, the former Rangers kid hacked his shot wide of the far corner.
The second half began with Doran going on another solo run which ended in his flashing shot just clearing Hamilton’s bar.
Soon after, Miles Storey raced clear only to drag his finish past the far post, before Jamie McCart almost won it minutes from the end with a glancing header from Doran’s corner.
Inverness boss Robertson said: “I think a draw was right for the effort we put in.
“We could have won it but it’s a good solid point.
“That was more like us in terms of attitude, application and fighting for each other.”