RYAN SWEENEY is adamant Dundee shouldn’t just look to their experienced campaigners to ensure they stave off the threat of relegation – because they all need to be leaders.
Sweeney spoke out following Wednesday night’s goalless draw at home to Hibs which restored some pride in the wake of last Saturday’s humiliating 4-0 home loss to Livingston, moving them to within a point of second-bottom St Johnstone.
The Dens Park club have the likes of Charlie Adam, Paul McGowan and Jordan McGhee to turn to in their frantic quest for survival but defender Sweeney maintains every single Dark Blues player must step up in their remaining ten games.
Sweeney said: “We have some real experienced boys in there as well.
“It is not all about them trying to drag the group through. It has to be everyone.
“We need 11 or 18 leaders, whatever it is. You see the boys on the side, who don’t get on, they are also brilliant and drag the boys through.
“We will need that between now and the end of the season.
“It was big to get a point against Hibs. We spoke about it before the game, that we were trying to build something after what happened last Saturday against Livingston.
“We tried to get something on Wednesday and we got it. It is a point on the board and something to build on.”
Dundee showed they have the stomach for the fight just days after irate fans streamed out of Dens Park where they’d fallen four down to Livi within just 21 minutes.
Now Sweeney is calling on Mark McGhee’s men to okfind some consistency if they’re to haul themselves off the foot of the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to Motherwell.
He added: “We have had certain games this season where we have let ourselves down, as a group.
“Wednesday was us showing a bit of fight, which needs to be there in every game. We don’t want to be coming out every eight or nine games and having a bad result like that.
“We need to be finding some consistency now for the rest of the season.
“You can see what the gaffer and Simon are trying to do and implement since they have come in.
“It is very difficult, with the amount of games we have had, to try and get on the training pitch and to get a lot of work into us.
“The days they have it has been really good and after this clean sheet and the point we can kick on again.”
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