Dundee and Celtic faced the unenviable task of taking on Rangers and Celtic in back-to-back matches.
Invariably when that happens a team will come away with no points and potentially two hammerings which can dent the confidence and be damaging to the season going forward.
But Tony Docherty’s side managed two draws and two valuable points, the second of which being last night’s thrilling 3-3 clash with Celtic at Dens Park.
The Dee fell behind to former player Luke McCowan’s early opener but leveled through Seun Adewumi. Yang put the visitors in front for a second time but there was a quick response this time with Cameron Carter-Vickers turning Josh Mulligan’s cross into his own net.
Aaron Donnelly thought he may have won it for Dundee from a scramble on 78 minutes but Arne Engels was able to convert a stoppage time penalty to ensure a share of the spoils.
While a point against a side from Glasgow is always welcomed, the Dark Blues may have felt they’d dropped two given they led going into the closing stages.
Docherty certainly seemed to be thinking that way but he was delighted with his team.
Docherty labels Dundee draw ‘heroic’
Admitting there was a disappointment and not winning, the 53-year-old was still backing his players to the hilt after what he thought was a “heroic” effort.
And he revealed star man Lyall Cameron, being linked with a move to Rangers, had climbed out of his sick bed to contribute to the cause.
Docherty said: “I’m disappointed because I do think that we’d absolutely done enough to win the match.
“The word I would use is heroic.
“When when you see the substitutes that Celtic are bringing on, multi-million pound players and I’m bringing on Lyall Cameron, who was not fit to play, he’s out of his sick bed.
“He said to me ‘I’ve got 10 minutes gaffer’, I’ve got to put him on because Fin Robertson has run his race. He’s another who hasn’t trained.
“That just typifies the mentality, the spirit of the squad and hugely proud of them.
“When you go behind early on in a match, I’ve seen some teams buckle against Celtic.
“We stood up to it.
“I’m just disappointed we don’t get ourselves the three points the performance merited.”
Dundee made Celtic ‘wobble’
Docherty went on: “I don’t think you’ll see a better goal than that first goal.
“We looked like a team that were more likely to go and win it.
“The players on the pitch sniffed that and I thought we made Celtic really wobble.
“You don’t see that a lot with that Celtic team, they’re a fantastic football team, a Champions League team.
“Again when you factor in all the injuries that we’ve got but the way we went toe-to-toe with them and we had a disappointed dressing room.
“We were so close to making a bit of history.
“I could not be more proud of them.
“They’ve got to take that belief and that trust in each other, that mentality and that spirit to kick us on for the second part of the season.”