Pressley left 'satisfied' at Montrose hammering after 'concerning' first half

BBC News

27-07-2025

Dundee manager Steven Pressley was pleased to see a second-half turnaround from his side after a "concerning" opening 45 minutes.A Simon Murray penalty - the captain's first of the season - set Steven Pressley's side on their way early on, but the new Dens Park boss felt his side were lacklustre for periods of the first half.Dundee ended a disappointing group campaign with a 5-0 hammering of third-tier visitors Montrose, to finish third in their league cup group."I was obviously pleased with the result, and I thought in the second half in particular we were much better," said Pressley."Much better as a unit, as a team, more synchronised in our pressing and our decision making, but I was a little bit concerned in the first half."We actually started the game really well, really aggressively and I was excited with our opening 10 or 15 minutes, but I just felt that we became a little bit disjointed at times."There were some good things in the second half and of course, three set-play goals again, which is a big part of what we're working on."So, the second half, [I was] much more satisfied, first half a little bit concerned on certain aspects."