Dundee 1
Hibernian 0
League (Premier Division)

Manager's Programme Notes

Today we play a Hibs side who have made a bad start to the season in terms of League points, yet having watched them put Celtic out of the Skol Cup they have shown that they are not a bad side. Hibs achieved their win over Celtic by putting on a really good performance because, I believe they felt that they could relax with no points at stake. Last Saturday Celtic won con vincingly at Easter Road and I believe that the cut throat nature of the Premier League adds extra pressure to teams who are in Hibs current League position. We know here at Dens that a couple of bad results can really put the pressure on the team.

Last Saturday saw us get back on the rails against Motherwell and I felt that we played more like ourselves. In some part, our play reminded me of our form in the second half of last season when we put together some good results. With an away win under our belts I am now looking for similar consistency to that which we showed at the latter end of last season.

Results like last Saturday's give the players confidence and makes them eager to get on with each game. If a team is under pressure because of poor results the players tend to be more apprehensive before a match. I saw signs last Saturday of one or two players beginning to find their feet in the side. There were also signs of one or two players beginning to rediscover their form.

A good result today would further improve the players confidence, but we will not be taking the field believing that Hibs are going to be an easy side to beat. It is up to the players to show that they want to take both points and to do that they must apply themselves in the same way they did at Motherwell.