Midfielder Shaun Byrne hailed Dundee’s spririt and insists another team “would have caved in” as Dunfermline threatened to run riot at East End Park on Friday.
And he’s backed the Dark Blues to show more character as they bid to start their home record in the Championship on the front foot against Ayr United on Saturday.
He certainly knows they’ll have to up their game from the opening 45 minutes of the season as they trailed the Pars 2-0 before two penalties from Danny Johnson saved a point.
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And Byrne reckons Dundee would have won the game had there been more time on the clock.
He told the Tele: “The first half was disappointing for the way we want to play but the reaction in the second half was night and day, to be honest, between the two halves.
“If the game went on for another 10 minutes, I’m positive we’d have went on to win.
“In the first half, we knew we didn’t play anywhere near as well as we could.
“The second we were much more the team we want to be, getting on the ball, passing it and causing them a lot more problems.
“I think we need to give Dunfermline a bit of credit as well, they came out the traps well, got on top of us.
“They came out much quicker than us, we looked a bit nervy to start with but I think we showed good character to come back – I think a lot of teams would have caved in at 2-0 with the way the game was going but we showed we have a lot of spirit.
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“Other teams could have gone under with the way the game was going but we got in at half-time and sorted it out, changed the shape a wee bit and I think we dominated the second half.”
He added: “The Championship is a hard league and you have to fight for every point – Friday night proved that. There will be ups and downs through the season but we want to play more like how we did in the second half.”
At Dens Park Byrne knows the Dundee fans will expect much more and he’s determined to do all he can to send them home happy against the Honest Men this weekend.
Ian McCall’s side kicked off their own campaign with a 4-2 victory over Greenock Morton at home as they eye up another finish in the play-off spots after an impressive last campaign.
Byrne knows they’ll have plenty about them but also knows the Dark Blues’ home form will be vital to any chance they have of winning promotion back to the top flight.
“The first home game is important,” he added.
“Of course, you want to win every game but I think the home record will be big this season.
“If you want to be successful, you need a good home record.
“We are looking forward to getting back playing in front of our fans.
“Ayr have a lot of good players and did well last year. They were up the top of the league for a lot of the season so we know it will be a tough game and we need to be at it to get anything.
“The fans were unbelievable at Dunfermline. I’m not used to playing in front of away fans like that, to be honest.
“They came out in their numbers on a Friday night and the backing they gave us really helped us push on and get that equaliser and trying to get the winner.”
He added: “We want to get the feelgood factor back with the fans. We are a new team so it’s about building on what we have done in pre-season.
“We want the fans to be proud of the team, that’s something the manager has said, he wants the fans to be proud of us when we walk off a park on a Saturday.”
