Dundee boss James McPake has insisted he doesn’t feel any pressure that he could lose “dream” job at Dens Park but admits he needs to turn around results sooner rather than later if he is to remain in his post.
McPake’s side find themselves one point behind St Johnstone at the foot of the Premiership table ahead of facing Hearts at Tynecastle tonight, with their last win in the league coming on December 1.
With only five points from their last 10 games, McPake is very much aware of what he needs to do as the Dundee boss admitted his side should be pushing for mid-table rather than fighting to stay in the division.
“I’m not being cocky or trying to be clever in saying I don’t feel pressure of losing my job,” McPake said.
“The pressure I feel is to get this team winning games.
“I would rather take all the pressure and allow the players to play with freedom.
“It hurts me a lot, I will say that. I’ve been at this club eight years now. I’ve been through a lot here, good and bad. It hurts me a lot when we don’t win.
“That’s where the pressure comes. Do I feel over-awed or if I’m sinking with the pressure? No. But we’re not doing what we should be doing, we should be getting up and cementing our place in this division.
“We still have a chance of doing that but we need to act quickly and be a lot better.
“In terms of pressure, it will always be there.
“I don’t want to belittle that and make it sound like I don’t care, it’s not that.
It’s a dream to be manager of this football club.
“We’ve won promotion but for every high there are lows. We have to fight and battle our way out of it.
“That’s what we’ll do.
“At the end of the day, it is a results-driven business and those relationships and conversations don’t mean a thing if we don’t pick up results.
“I’m not naïve enough to ignore that.
“Your only collateral as a manager is getting results and, at the minute, I’m not getting results.
“My sole aim is to turn that around.”
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