Dundee display at Celtic shows they are ‘growing’ insists Steven Pressley as he provides Clark Robertson injury update.

The Dark Blues gave the champions a scare late on, but ultimately lost 1-0. Steven Pressley, a proud Dundee fan, believes the Dark Blues’ battling performance in their 1-0 loss to Celtic demonstrates their “growth.”

The final whistle at Celtic Park was hailed with wild applause from the home crowd as the visitors gave the champions a scare in the dying minutes.

Martin O’Neill said farewell to Celtic fans with a win in his final match in charge, thanks to Daizen Maeda’s 12th-minute goal.

While the focus will be on O’Neill’s final performance, Pressley was pleased with his team’s effort.

“There was a lot of positives in the performance, especially after going a goal down so early in the game,” the Dundee manager stated.

“We came here with real intentions. I believed we caused Celtic trouble at times. “With a late opportunity when Luke Graham has a header at the back post, we might have got something out of it.

“Looking at our performance, I see that we’re improving. There is no doubt that we need to build more confidence in possession, but this will come with games and results.

“We’re making progress, and I’m quite proud of our performance today. “We maintained our composure, but I believe we can be braver at times.”

“I thought that as a group to come here to lose the early goal and to respond in the manner that we responded is really encouraging from my perspective.

“I told them they could be incredibly proud of their performance.

“When you come here to get a result, you must deliver an outstanding performance.

“It wasn’t flawless, but it was overwhelmingly positive. “The big thing for us is we’re growing, we’re improving.”

Early goal, late scare

Celtic gained an early lead in the match, as was customary.
Reo Hatate’s excellent throughball cut up the defenders, but Hyunjun Yang’s shot was comfortably saved by Jon McCracken.

The ball popped into the air, and Maeda ascended to nod home. An attack was expected following the early concession, but Dundee managed to stay in the game.

They had a chance on 14 minutes, but Joe Westley’s touch let him down, and Calum McGregor got a foot in to block his attempt from 12 yards.

Imari Samuels blocked one off the line as Marcelo Saracchi shot across goal, and the Dee had to deal with some serious threat.

However, they posed some threat, with Simon Murray striking the bar after a bad header from Liam Scales in the first half, only for the flag to be raised.

The hosts dominated the second session, with Jon McCracken having to be on his toes to stop former Dens favourite Luke McCowan.

But the Dark Blues remained in the game, and substitutions began to have an impact.

Ash Hay sprinted through onto a long Ethan Hamilton ball but his effort from wide didn’t have the pace to beat Kasper Schmeichel.

With the score at 1-0, the audience became nervous. Dundee contributed to that.

A late free kick caused havoc in the home box before Tony Yogane beat his man on the flank and delivered a superb cross. Luke Graham was up and couldn’t get enough of his header.

The sigh of relief from the home crowd was audible. Maeda would hit the post as Dundee pressed forward, and the final whistle was greeted with loud cheers from the home fans.

Clark Robertson injury

While there were some positives to take away from the tight defeat, there was one huge negative:

Clark Robertson went off midway through the first half, putting him in serious concern for the weekend match against Aberdeen.

“It’s a concern,” Pressley said after confirming Robertson suffered a thigh injury. “He is an extremely crucial player for us. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We have three games this week.

Should I have played him, or not? “But he’s such an important player. “Hopefully, he’ll be well throughout the weekend. But I do not know.”

Dundee fell to tenth place in the Premiership as Kilmarnock drew with Hearts.

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