Dundee 1
St Mirren 0
League (Premier Division)

Manager's Programme Notes

Saturday's Cup victory at Ibrox was a great result fornthis club and I'm delighted for the players who worked so hard to earn it and for the fans who were in Glasgow in such large numbers to back us.

The win was well deserved for, although we've played better, I believe that ours was a worthy triumph.

I cannot fault the attitude of the players and as far as the fans are concerned, I must go on record as saying that they too played their part.

All the players were delighted at the kind of backing we got and the size of our support which I would estimate to be in the region of 3500 - 4000 was very much appreciated by everyone at Dens Park.

The victory showed that we are now achieving a much more acceptable level of consistency and the fact that we've only lost once in 10 games is a first class record in anyone's language.

But now that we've attained that level we must concentrate all the harder on not letting it go and by that I mean we must continue to prove to our fans that we are a team worth supporting.

I believe that we've had such good backing from our supporters all season because they've appreciated what is being done to put this club back on the map.

So it's absolutely vital we continue to do the sensible thing, keeping the head under pressure and trying at all times to keep playing football.

Although we're on a good run and are now looking forward to Celtic's visit in the Scottish Cup quarter finals, it's important that we don't get carried away.

By being sensible about the way we play the game we'll continue to convince people that we are going in the right direction.

Tonight's match presents another challenge - and another vital one at that.

A win for us is vital if we're going to get back amongst St. Mirren and Hearts in the League table and from that point of view the game could be described as a four-pointer.

There are vital League games in the offing- tonight's included - and we'll enter these games with confidence and anticipation knowing that we've got another big occasion game in the offing.

The way we're playing just now, we're definitely capable of winning ANY game but by the very nature of the Cup there is always the possibility that you will lose.

So from that point of view, the Celtic tie is ideal as it will give another really big occasion here at Dens with the atmosphere that goes hand in hand with the big crowd.

And any team with ambition - and we certainly have that at Dens - will know that sooner or later the top teams have to be faced. Just like Saturday against Rangers, we'll take on Celtic as underdogs and that's the way we like it.

But I would stress that this game's very much in the future and beforehand we've got vital League points to pick up...starting tonight against St. Mirren.