Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Dee boss Doc sets another objective
TONY Docherty is determined Dundee will be one of the seeded teams when the draw for the knockout stages of the Premier Sports Cup takes place tomorrow.
The Dark Blues became the first side to qualify from the group stages on Tuesday thanks to a 3-1 win over Annan Athletic.
The seeded teams in the last 16 will be the five clubs competing in Europe – Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Mirren – as well as the three group winners with the best records.
And Dens boss Docherty is looking for his players to make it four wins out of four by beating Inverness this afternoon.
The manager said: “The first objective was to qualify and I am really delighted and proud of them that, out of the 40 teams in that qualification stage, we are the first to come out of it with nine points and a plus 10 goal difference. So huge credit to them for doing that.
“There is now another objective. I said to them at the start to try to win all four games and to get yourselves into a position to be seeded going into the last 16 – to be one of the eight seeded teams.
“So there is very much an objective there to tick off and we will be trying to do that against Inverness.
Docherty added: “I think we are in a good place at the moment. I am pleased with the way things are going just now. I just want to make sure there is no complacency. We will absolutely respect Inverness. They are a really good side and you can see they are well coached by Duncan (Ferguson) and Gary (Bollan). We are not in any way underestimating the challenge that’s ahead of us to get to that position where we are a seeded team.”