MARCUS Haber savoured Dundee’s first clean sheet of the year just as much as his strike which shot down Kilmarnock.
The Canadian earned his side another precious three points in a 1-0 win with his second-half winner at Rugby Park as the Dark Blues continue their revival under interim boss Neil McCann.
But Haber claimed blanking out the opposition for the first time since their New Year’s Eve triumph over St Johnstone meant just as much.
The Dens Park outfit have now bounced back from the seven-game losing streak which cost Paul Hartley his job with back-to-back victories under McCann and have moved four points clear of the play-off zone.
“I took just as much satisfaction from the clean sheet as I did my goal,” Haber said.
“Keeping clean sheets is something we’ve struggled with recently but if we have that solid foundation then the worst we can do is a draw.
“We’ve worked really hard at being hard to break down and the main thing on Saturday was keeping the clean sheet.
“We haven’t done that for a while so we’re delighted.
“There’s still a long way to go. We have three more games and we need to carry on this momentum.”
Killie thought they had put their own relegation fears to bed with last week’s win at Hamilton, but defeat now leaves them just six points above Motherwell in 11th place with three games remaining.
Manager Lee McCulloch has promised to make changes to his line-up ahead of facing Inverness next week.
He said: “We’ll dust ourselves down and come back on Monday. This wasn’t because the players thought we were safe because we know we aren’t yet. The players have been told that every day at training.
“Dundee more than deserved the three points and well done to Neil McCann for turning them round.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here