Paul Hartley hurting as draw specialists Dundee miss out on top-six finish

Manager Paul Hartley says too many draws killed Dundee's top-six aspirations and criticised his side after the defeat at Hamilton that inflicted the final blow.

Hartley's team, beaten 2-1 at Hamilton on Saturday, have clocked up 14 draws this season - more than any other side in the Premiership.

Even a few weeks ago Dundee looked good for a place among the elite, but they have fallen below the cut in the split after taking just one win from their last eight games.

Hartley said: "The dressing room was quiet, because we set our sights high this season, we wanted to be in the top six and we thought we could get there, but it's not just this game - we've had too many draws this season. We've had 14 draws, and we've been in good positions where we should have won games, so it's a major blow.

"We wanted to be in the top half, playing against the better teams, and the players have been great for the majority of the season, but we let ourselves down.

"We have to keep going; we still want to finish as high as we can, we set targets, and sometimes you don't reach them, but our target now is to try and finish seventh. If we're sixth and seventh in two seasons that's great, and hopefully we can get better after that.''

Hartley admitted his side struggled to cope with Hamilton's physical style of play, but insists Dundee should not have been surprised by the tactics of his home-town team.

He said: "We know Hamilton's style of play, and we have enough physicality on the park in our back players, but we just didn't cope with it very well, or the conditions of the pitch.

"We knew Hamilton would start well, they hadn't won here since September, and we knew they would come at us. We had to handle that and we didn't. At half-time we were 2-0 down and told them they had 45 minutes to do something about it. We had a little go, but we didn't play as well as we can.''

Hamilton boss Martin Canning was delighted with his first home win since September 19, and he praised the contribution of youngsters Eamonn Brophy, Greg Docherty and Steven Boyd.

With the Hamilton under-17s and under-20s going strongly in their leagues, Canning feels the club are in a good position, and victory was a huge boost to their survival hopes.

He said: "Eamonn and Greg have been on the cusp of the first team for the last year and a bit. Greg has played quite a bit this season, Eamonn went out on loan to Dumbarton and back in, and he's not far away at all from being a top player.

"Their attitude is excellent, and we have Boydy, who came on, did well, and has been a star for the under-20s this season.

"If you look at the club as a whole, the under-17s are top of their league, the under-20s should finish second, and that's what we're all about. The first team is competing well in the Premiership and punching above their weight, so for everything that we set out to do, the club is in a good place.''

Canning added: "It's a massive boost getting the win going into the split, and every game between now and the end of the season is massive for us."