Dundee manager Paul Hartley targets top six after derby win
Thursday 9 April 2015 08:03, UK
Paul Hartley has set his sights on a top-six finish after Dundee's first victory in the Tayside derby for a decade.
Wednesday's 3-1 win against city rivals Dundee United lifted last season’s Championship winners up to sixth in the Premiership and helped eased the pain of the 6-2 defeat in the same fixture on January 1.
Hartley said: “The fans will remember this, a 3-1 scoreline, under the lights.
“The feeling was terrible in January. It was my lowest ebb as a manager but it’s a fantastic feeling to get a derby win and get the monkey off the back. Our fans should enjoy this now.
"Everybody thought we'd be struggling at the bottom but I've got great belief in my group of players. It's important for the players to get into the top six as they're desperate to get in there."
The Dark Blues trail United by two points and have two games to play before the split - the first of which is at St Johnstone on Saturday.
"We'll take a big travelling support to Perth, so I'm sure they'll be rubbing their hands," Hartley said.
"We were terrific tonight and the game plan worked very well. We changed the team and went with a 4-4-2 diamond then adjusted and it was a great team performance. We've got a great blend of youth and experience.
Fading Dundee United’s winless sequence has now stretched to 10 games and manager Jackie McNamara said: "I thought first half we were causing them problems but the second half we didn't do enough to challenge them going forward.
"They're not bad players, they're suffering a little bit in confidence with the things that have happened in the last number of weeks so we need to put that right."
