Dundee

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Dundee have been hailed as the "great overachievers" of the early Premiership season after confounding expectations.

Boss Steven Pressley warned in the summer of a lot of pain ahead for the club, but his new-look side occupy fourth place with 10 points from their opening seven games.

And the Dark Blues' start has been applauded on the BBC's Scottish football podcast where pundits were asked to choose the team most punching above their weight.

Mark Atkinson, sports editor of The Scotsman, plumped for Dundee, saying: "They're sitting comfortably in the top half of the table, joint fourth, playing some really nice football.

"They've also posted some some statement results. They've beaten Aberdeen, which was the best performance Pressley said he'd seen from his Dundee team. And then they also won the derby.

"So I think he'll be delighted with how his team has started. And remember, Dundee have to constantly evolve their squad, every season they lose players.

"And they often bring in youngsters who need a bit of time to to bed in. Pressley's done a great job there so far.

"They signed off the first part of the season with a big win over Motherwell. So Dundee for me, because I did expect them to be probably at the wrong end of the table at this stage."

Head coach Steven Pressley says Dundee will fast-track re-signing talks with six players out of contract next summer. (Daily Record, external)

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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We asked you to rate Dundee's season and tell us what Steven Pressley should be focusing on during the international break.

Here is what some of you said:

Iain B: Brilliant start to the season. Never seen a more organised team. Don't half love making us nervous but they have given us reason to trust them. If only we didn't have an extensive list of injuries.

Pete: Good start so far, serious injuries are killing us, think we would have beaten Hearts without them. Promising season ahead if we have a bit of luck with the injuries.

Jayeffell: I think we have been a tad lucky. Yet in some games we look outstanding. The defence looks tighter and, to me, Ryan Astley is a better player than Luke Graham. If Joe Bevan can push on he'll be some player but his early-season good form has dropped. A better gauge will see how things are after about 14 games. Pressley doing okay.

Iago: On the balance of things, to be sitting with the points total we have after playing some very tough sides means progress has been made. Patience has always been the mantra from Pressley since he arrived. The fans took some time to buy into it, but are now reaping the benefits.

Iain S: Hard to make a definitive judgement with some mixed results, but the most promising change this season is low-scoring games, win or lose. In recent years we have had some really big defeats. Defensively, we seem to have tightened up significantly.

Innes: Happy with start to the season. Definitely signs of upward and forward looking. Positivity is obvious compared to doom and gloom last season. Goes to show that Elvis is getting it right on and off the field. Hopefully the team can keep moving forward to a higher and more solid position at end of season.

Gary: We've definitely not been dealt a good hand with injuries, but have largely looked fairly comfortable. Centrally we're forming good partnerships. Apart from the two back-to-back home games where we dropped points our league performances have been pretty decent, so I'm happy enough but we need injury returnees and maybe some loans.

Head coach Steven Pressley has admitted Dundee's crippling injury crisis has forced them to look at the free agent market. (Courier - subscription required, external).

A trialist is expected to play for Dundee in Thursday's bounce game against Hearts after Jack Moorhouse was the latest to suffer an ACL injury. (Record - subscription required, external)

Thursday's Scottish gossip

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Steven Pressley must feel the football gods are out to get him.

To have one player ruled out for the season with an ACL injury is bad luck, but to have three is the stuff of nightmares.

That is the scenario the Dundee boss now faces. With Simon Murray and Fin Robertson's campaigns already over, midfielder Jack Moorhouse is now also set for a lengthy spell out.

The 20-year-old Manchester United loanee damaged his ACL during a bounce game with Partick Thistle last week.

I recently suggested the international break may be a good thing for the Dark Blues in helping to ease their casualty list.

So the news about Moorhouse will be a real hammer blow for the club.

Dundee will emerge from the hiatus looking to build on an encouraging start to the season which sees them well placed in fourth in the Premiership after their opening seven games.

However, that will be incredibly difficult if their injury curse doesn't go away.

As the extended international break continues, we want to hear your thoughts on Dundee's opening seven games in the Scottish Premiership.

Despite another summer of squad upheaval, Steven Pressley's side have already racked up three wins - it took them 14 league games to achieve that feat last term - and are sitting pretty in fourth place.

How do you rate Dundee's start to the season and why? And what should Pressley be focusing on during the extended break?

Let us know here

Dundee's on-loan midfielder Jack Moorhouse, 20, has returned to parent club Manchester United after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a bounce game. (Courier - subscription required, external)

Forward Bobby Wales, 21, hesitated before joining Dundee on loan from Swansea City but is glad to have made the move. (Courier - subscription required, external)

Wednesday's Scottish gossip

Ethan Hampton
Fan writer

It's great to see Jon McCracken and Luke Graham in Sebastien Pocognoli's Scotland squad.

Both have come on leaps and bounds during their time in Dundee's Dark Blue, and I know many within the club will be proud to see them receiving international recognition even though they have both moved on to pastures new.

McCracken in particular was underrated and, at times, overcriticised during his time at Dens Park.

Perhaps that was partly down to the frustration of knowing just how good a goalkeeper he could be. With his flirtations with the Scotland squad while at Dundee, there was perhaps an expectation among supporters that he would develop at a more rapid rate.

His move to Bradford City looks to have served him well and his international recognition is deserved.

Graham, meanwhile, he's taken to life at Stoke like a duck to water and there was never any doubt he was destined to become a Scotland international. For me, he should have been at the World Cup.

Taken together, these selections are a strong testament to Dundee's growing reputation for player development since our return to the top flight.

I suspect we'll see more internationalists fly the flag for the Dark Blues in the near future. At the moment we're keeping a keen eye on Canada for the potential debut of Owen Goodman, who has been in tremendous form for Dundee this season.

Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady has explained how Dundee technical director Gordon Strachan opened the door for him to help head coach Steven Pressley coach the club's wingers and forwards on an ad-hoc basis. (The Courier, external)

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Bobby Wales scored twice as Dundee beat Partick Thistle 3-0 in a bounce game on Tuesday before the on-loan striker joined up with the Scotland Under-21 squad. (The Courier - subscription required, external)

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Steven Pressley will be using the international break to look back on the season so far - and he can rightly be satisfied.

His Dundee side have gone well during the early knockings of the Premiership campaign, occupying fourth place with 10 points from seven games.

That is pretty decent - even more so considering the context.

After Dundee's 2-1 home win over Motherwell last weekend, Pressley described the season so far as "solid... considering there's been a lot of transition in the group, all the injuries and upheaval".

He is right - it has been another busy summer at Dens Park with a raft of key players departing and a host of new faces arriving.

That combination isn't always conducive to a positive start, but Pressley has got a decent tune out of his new-look group.

He has also had to deal with an eye-watering injury list that has forced him to heavily shuffle his pack and find a way of making do and mending to accommodate the absence of players like Simon Murray and Ashley Hay.

When you factor all that in, it further highlights what a good job Pressley has done.

But it does also beg a question that will tantalise Dark Blues fans - how much better can this team get once the new-look squad has fully gelled and the injury list has eased?

Football is very much about the here and now, but Dundee's trajectory could be an upward one over the coming weeks and months.

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Luke Graham says getting his first call-up to the Scotland squad was "pretty surreal".

The 22-year-old defender has impressed since making the summer switch to Stoke City, playing eight games so far in the Championship.

Sebastien Pocognoli included the former Dundee defender in his first Scotland squad - a pleasant surprise for the Graham family.

"My mum and dad were down because I had a game that weekend, so for him to call me the day after with them there it was pretty special - and they were fairly chuffed as well," said Graham.

"Obviously, it's a new manager, so everyone's raring to go and trying to impress but I just need to show myself up in the best way I can and hopefully try and get some minutes."

Graham has won eight caps for Scotland at under-21 level and he's hoping that experience can push him forward with the first team.

"It does help coming in fully for the first time but obviously I knew a couple of boys before that, anyway, with under-21s and stuff like that, so that helps to kind of bed it in as well," added the defender.

"Just to meet up with the boys today and then get that first session, obviously with the new manager and stuff, was pretty vital, so it was really good."

Ethan Hampton
Fan writer

Joe Westley was signed to be a goalscoring striker for Dundee.

But after an impressive makeshift move into midfield, that position was his to lose before he suffered a knee injury in December which kept him out for three months.

Since the split last season, we've gone back to Plan A with the striker leading the line. As a result, he's been the talisman finding the net again.

Fans feared the worst when Westley was taken off on a stretcher at Tynecastle two weeks ago. Despite a fractured cheekbone, he refused surgery and is now donning a mask to play.

The 21-year-old is the hero Dundee need right now. Three goals in 537 minutes of Premiership football is effectively one every two games. This is a subplot worth keeping an eye on as the firepower at Dundee's disposal is potentially the best it's been in years.

The past three weeks have been frustrating, but heading into the international break in fourth place is excellent going.

We have a good spine to the team with partnerships forming all over. It feels like we're a team moving from strength to strength and three weeks with no games serves as a chance for the squad to continue to build familiarity while injured players return.

Man United loan midfielder Jack Moorhouse - who was the Dark Blues' top target this summer - is one to watch after the break with this time to settle in.

Sportscene analyst James McFadden assesses Dundee's Scottish Premiership form.

Steven Pressley's side have taken 10 points from their opening seven matches of the Scottish Premiership season and sit fourth in the table.

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Steven Pressley has praised his centre-half pairing of Owen Bevan and Ryan Astley for providing the foundation for Dundee's solid start to the season.

Welshman Astley, an Everton youth product, and Bevan, who joined the club from Bournemouth this summer, have formed a formidable partnership.

They were key players once again as Dundee beat Motherwell 2-1 on Saturday to move up into fourth place in the Premiership table on 10 points.

However, former Scotland defender Pressley is still demanding more from the duo.

The Dundee boss said: "I felt this was a big game because I remember going into the international break last year after a 4-0 loss to Aberdeen.

"So you have to enjoy a result like this, particularly with the transition of players and the injuries we have. We are still trying to find our rhythm.

"Ten points is not a brilliant return but it's a very solid start for us. There is more to come from us and that's what makes me excited."

Bradley Fink added to Joe Westley's penalty in Saturday's win. Alex Lowry pulled on back but Bevan, Astley and their defensive colleagues otherwise saw the game out well.

Pressley added: "The centre-halves have been outstanding since day one and are developing.

"Astley has been with us for 14 months and has really grown in stature.

"Owen is developing well but I want to see a bit more leadership from them. I want to hear them talking more and that's the next phase of their development – communication and leadership.

"But it will come with time and age, and we need that as a team at present. We need more leadership and I want a lot of people to grow into that role.

"I want many leaders and we will keep working on that."

Dundee resist Motherwell's comeback to secure three Scottish Premiership points at Dens Park (UK only).

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Dundee striker Joe Westley believes helping his side to a Premiership victory over Motherwell proves he made the right decision to chose to play, rather than have surgery on a fractured cheekbone.

Westley wore a mask to protect his face during the game at Dens Park which the Dark Blues won 2-1.

And the 21-year-old played a big part, netting the opening goal from the penalty spot midway through the first half.

"I spent a couple of days deliberating last week after speaking to the surgeon," Westley told BBC Scotland.

"But I just wanted to keep in the flow of things and I want to be scoring, playing games, helping the team win and if I had the surgery I would have to miss a bit of time.

"So I just opted to wear the mask and I think I made the right decision after the goal and the win today.

"I think it will heel, it will just set in a different space so I might have a little dent in my head, but I would rather that and scoring goals than take a bit of time out."

Dundee were 2-0 up after 40 minutes but were pegged back by an Alex Lowry strike just before the break.

Despite Motherwell throwing a lot at them in the second half, Steven Pressley's side held out for the win which means they will be going in to the international break fourth in the table, with 10 points from their opening seven games.

"As you see today, and many a time, we've had games like that where we have really had to work hard and put our bodies on the line," the striker added.

"There is a real character in this group which we have shown time and time again and it is one of the things about this team, it's why we win games, because we are willing to do the hard yards and do things that other teams won't - it showed again today."

Dundee fans, we asked for your opinion on the hard-fought 2-1 win over Motherwell. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

George: Nice win. Now for a three-week break to lick our wounds and come back refreshed. Nice to see we are fourth. Keep that up and we will be in Europe next season.

Gary: If ever a team wanted to put fear and frustration into their own fans, it'd be Dundee! The second half seemed to last forever and maybe Steven Pressley should tell his team if they're playing out from the back, they don't have to do it every time! They can bypass and perhaps play it long instead? We invite pressure on ourselves - just play it forward!

Still, ending on a win for the break is the best result we could've hoped for after the last two home games.

Iain: Injuries? Not bothered, mate. We were excellent today. Bradley Fink was my player of the match, he was a class act and chased until he could chase no more. Owen Goodman was top class as well, despite the ref being pedantic.

Iain S: Third win of the season, and we go in to a long break hopeful of getting a few injured players back. It worries me that our stats often show 35% to 40% possession even in home games, as was the case today.

Rod: We never looked likely to lose this game despite a depleted team. We play nice football and defend well so who knows where we could finish this season. I'm starting to ask myself is third a possibility, if Hearts aren't as good this season?

Mark: Great three points. Need to continue making it hard for teams to come to Dens. In fourth after seven league games, think any Dundee fan would be happy with that!

Martin: We are one of the only four teams in the league with a positive goal difference - not because we are free-scoring but because our defence has been solid. If our defenders can stay injury-free, we have a great foundation to push on. Fink is getting better game by game, he holds the ball up well but has also got a bit of skill and pace, and now two goals in two games.

Dundee may need to use the free agent market to replace midfielder Ryan Finnegan, who is set for a spell on the sidelines (Courier), external.

Motherwell lost their third Scottish Premiership game in a row as Dundee made the most of two goalkeeping mistakes to clinch victory at a blustery Dens Park.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say on the game via this link.

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Dundee head coach Steven Pressley: "For both teams, it was a really important game, especially considering we're going into the break. You always want to go into that on the back of a positive outcome.

"This time last year, we lost heavily to Aberdeen and it was a long couple of weeks to endure. It makes the weeks far more enjoyable.

"It's not been an outstanding start, but it's been solid - considering there's been a lot of transition in the group, all the injuries and upheaval.

"It says a lot about the group. The game was very much a game of two halves. We tried to have more control in the first half and we made a lot of improvements in that regard, created a lot of good opportunities.

"We were a little disappointed to only be 2-0 up after 44 minutes. But credit to Motherwell, we lost our concentration in one moment and the game changed.

"They put us under a lot of pressure in the second half, but we found a way. I say that a lot about this group.

"We have principles, a way of playing, but you need more than that. You need players that can adapt, players that want to win duels, players that anticipate second balls. We did that to great effect in the second half and showed incredible desire to win the game.

"There's going to be period in games where you just need to stand up to it. These players are very good at doing that, and I couldn't be prouder."

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Dundee striker Joe Westley could feature in a protective mask following his cheekbone fracture.

Ryan Finnigan (ankle) is a major doubt, while Zan Besir is suspended and Finlay Robertson drops out with cruciate ligament damage. Simon Murray and Ashley Hay are also out with knee injuries.

Motherwell remain without Johnny Koutroumbis, Oscar Priestman (calf), Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry (both knee) and Jordan McGhee (hamstring).