Dundee skipper Simon Murray opens up on being dropped and why he feels back to his best.

The Dark Blues captain is eager to continue his scoring streak against St Mirren today. Simon Murray says he’s feeling better following a tough start to the season.

Dundee has had a tough season overall, with only two wins in their first 13 Premiership fixtures.

And frustrating for the man who scored 22 goals across all competitions last season. He’s only managed three this season, with one coming in the Premier League.

Murray’s lack of goals has been mitigated by a knee injury sustained in August, which was followed by illness at St Mirren.

Throughout the campaign, Dundee has struggled to produce goal scoring opportunities.

Murray, who has scored twice in his past two games against St Mirren, is desperate to reignite his – and his team’s – season when they meet the Buddies again tonight.

“It is frustrating because I want to score goals but life in football isn’t that simple,” he said.

“I’m looking at myself, which is what football players need to do.

“It isn’t pointing the finger at others, look at your own game.

“I believe I’ll always get goals. But if I’m not scoring goals, what else am I doing?

“That’s what I pride myself on. Running hard, making it difficult for the opposition. Maybe because of my knee, I hadn’t been doing that in the early stages.

“Now, giving myself an extra two weeks because of the international break, this is the best I’ve felt probably since the pre-season. My fitness is high, my knee’s not sore any more.

“I’ve had the niggles, I’ve tried to push through, to try and help the squad and team.

“It was maybe detrimental to myself, but we’re here where we are now.

“I feel I’m getting back to my best now.”

Dropped against Rangers

Added in to the stop-start nature of his season was the surprise decision by head coach Steven Pressley to drop Murray for the recent defeat to Rangers.

Pressley elected to go with Emile Acquah, a striker unproven at Premiership level, over his skipper.

He did discuss the decision at length with Murray. So how has the striker dealt with the decision?

“I think I was dropped for one game last season at Tynecastle. I wasn’t happy then and I wasn’t happy at the Rangers game,” he revealed.

“But I’m not undroppable, nobody is.

“If you’re not doing your job, or you’re not playing to the maximum of what you can be playing, then maybe you need a reset. And that’s what the manager did.

“It’s how you react from that.

“If you’re going to sulk and give up, then you may as well just go away.

“If you’re going to react and come back and fight, then it’s fine.”

Pressley stick from fans

Pressley was widely chastised for that choice, and fans have been dissatisfied with the way this season has progressed under his leadership.

What about the viewpoint of those in the dressing room? “It’s easy to blame other people,” Murray added.

“Sometimes, as a player, you may hide behind other people to shield yourself, but ultimately – and we discussed this – we need to improve.

“The manager creates a game plan and schedules training sessions, and he provides us with all of the necessary equipment.

“I’ve never seen a manager work harder than his employees do. “He is receiving some blowback and criticism, but it is now up to the players. “We have not been good enough. We’ve been given all the information and tools; it’s up to us to turn this around.

“The manager is receiving some criticism, but we are all behind him and believe in what is going on here. “It’s just that we’ve not shown it as players, and that comes down to us.”

Read more on Straightwinfortoday.com