Gartland says Dundee need to believe in themselves

Dundee assistant manager, Graham Gartland, wants to see more confidence from the players after running Aberdeen close on Friday night.

The Dark Blues, on the back of successive wins, suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Dons but had chances to take something from the game.

Having been on a run of five defeats on the bounce, a return of seven points out of the last 12 available is seen as progress at Dens Park and has raised confidence at the club, but the management feel as though they are still trying to convince the players of how good they are.

When asked if he thought they could get a result away to Hearts at Tynecastle on Tuesday night, Gartland said: "I do feel confident.

"I feel, and the manager (Neil McCann) feels, we can go anywhere with this team at the minute, and we want them to believe that.

"We have a lot of confidence and belief in them. There is a lot of spirit and energy in them, and when you have that you know they will give it all every game.

"Going away from home to Hearts I'm confident we can put in a performance, but I think the players need to believe that more than us.

"They need to know that when they play to their maximum, they can give anyone a game."

McCann and Gartland are presiding over one of the youngest squads in the Ladbrokes Premiership, and Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes paid them a compliment on Friday by admitting he had made changes to his team to try and nullify certain threats within the side.

When asked if that was a compliment to the squad, Gartland said: "The players should (take it as a compliment). If any manager is willing to sacrifice their players in order to nullify, then it's a compliment.

"That is Derek: he is vigilant in what he does.

"We have done it as well to counter the positive of another team, but I think we've a lot of young players at the minute that people need to, and are watching.

"The levels of performance from them are really good and would worry you when you play against them."