Manager Paul Hartley saw his side end 2016 in style at Dens with a comfortable 3-0 victory over St. Johnstone.
The manager said of the win, “It was important that the last game of 2016 that we got something. Our home form has definitely picked up, clean sheet, another 3 points and you give yourself a little bit of breathing space. I think you feel good about yourself going into the break.”
Faissal El Bakhtaoui opened the scoring with his second goal for the club, he also picked up the sponsors man of the match, Paul said of the striker’s performance, “It’s been difficult for him. There has been a lot of the expectation because of the goals he scored at Dunfermline. We’ve been patient with him and try to give him a bit of confidence. You look at the chance at Celtic and it took a wee bit of time to get over that but we worked with him this week to get confidence, and to go enjoy it and take up positions where he can hurt team and he did that today.”
Alongside Faissal, Marcus Haber put in great showing, the manager was pleased with his form but also praised returning Mark O’Hara and the other players, saying “We’re pleased with his form, he’s been a key player for us. I thought O’Hara coming in, his energy and drive from the middle of the park and the guys behind him.”
“We switched to a back four today so a little bit new given the system we’ve been playing, overall a real team effort today.”
The win came on the back of a defeat away to Partick Thistle during the week, the manager was pleased that the team had controlled the match at Dens, “I didn’t think we were too bad in midweek we just didn’t control the game enough but today we controlled it first half and we managed it second half. Everybody deserves the credit and the players deserve a little break now.”
Subscribers can watch interviews with the manager and Faissal El Bakhtaoui on www.dundeefc.co.uk/deetv now
