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Dundee-Aberdeen reaction: Pressley purrs amid Robinson's zero credit claim as new signing made

· Mark Atkinson · 2026-08-08 · nguồn gốc

Dundee-Aberdeen reaction: Steven Pressley purrs amid Stephen Robinson's zero credit claim as new signing made Bevan takes the plaudits as Dons boss expects more from players Steven Pressley reckons Dundee’s performance in the 2-0 win over Aberdeen was the most complete since he took over a year ago. The hosts were resounding victors over the Dons at Dens Park as they claimed their first three points of the campaign thanks to goals from Joe Westley and man of the match Joe Bevan. Pressley purred over Dundee’s display afterwards - but in typical fashion also tempered expectations for the season, saying his team has much to learn. “I don't often get too excited about things, but truth be told, since coming to Dundee just over a year ago, I think that's been our most complete and our best performance,” said Pressley. “It had everything that I look for in a Dundee team. “It had speed, it had excitement, it had composure at the right times, but, boy, did it have resilience. Some of the players were running on empty in the last 20-25 minutes because of the style of football that we're trying to adopt, and it will take time for us to reach the levels of fitness that we truly need. And I think also another big understanding is that to play that way we need a strong squad because players struggle to perform in that high octane-manner for 90 minutes. “I couldn't be prouder of the group today. They were just incredible.” Pressley was asked if the levels his players showed should heighten expectations for the next few months. The manager was keen to stress that there will be darker days for Dundee. "We've got three points,” he stated. “Three points and so much hard work ahead of us. That's what I will say. We haven't experienced, as a team, disappointment as yet. Last season, one of the great things about the team was that they grew and they showed resilience and they were able to deal with setbacks. This group hasn't shown that yet. “Until we go through those difficult periods, because they'll come, we're Dundee, then I'm not getting too excited. We've got three points. I said this a lot last year: three points gets you relegated. So there's so much work ahead of us. Let's not lose sight of that.” Dundee’s unplayable matchwinner Bevan was unplayable for the Aberdeen defence and assisted Westley for the opener before adding the second 11 minutes into the second half. “We're really excited with Joe,” said Pressley. “He's got English Premier League physicality, he's got incredible speed, he's really strong on one-to-one, he's actually a good finisher. We just want him to grow and keep believing in himself because he gives us something different.” It was a different story for Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson, who said that nobody from the Pittodrie outfit got pass marks - including himself. The Dons had won all four of their Premier Sports Cup group-stage matches and the league opener against Hearts before veering off course at Dens Park. "An incredibly disappointing performance,” said Robinson. “I didn't recognise the team. "We didn't do what we do. We didn't outfight them, we didn't outrun them, we didn't outbattle them - they did the opposite to us and their front four set the press and then we couldn't cope with it. "People went into their shell a little bit. You need to win second balls, you need to win battles. We didn't do that in the middle of the park at all. We didn't do it all over the pitch. There's a lot that has to be better. We didn't do the basics right and it's not like us. Very unlike us. “I thought they ran all over us physically. It was always my fear when Brad [Lyons] and Connor [Ronan] were out, we'd lose a physical element. And we did, and we looked like that today. Collectively, as it seemed, we weren't at the races. A lot of bad decisions in and out of possession. When you play for Aberdeen, you can't do that. You have to reset yourself after one mistake and go again. “We had numerous opportunities to pick a better pass or play a better ball across the face of goal and we didn't do that. And if you do that in football matches, you don't do the unsexy bit well enough, then you lose football matches. And they'd done that much better than us. “But it's one game. People haven't said too much about us winning. But there'll be plenty today and we wanted to give the fans something to cling on to because we had such numbers down. We haven't managed to do that. So I have to try and pick the players up and get a reaction to that next week. “As a group we've said that. There's nobody in there kidding themselves that it was a good performance. Nobody's come out with any kind of credit today. Mainly myself has come out with zero credit. So we have to pick ourselves up. We'll do that Monday morning.” Aberdeen announced earlier in the day that they had completed the signing of Belgian forward Mitchy Ntelo from Swiss side Yverdon. “He adds pace and strength to the forward line,” added Robinson. “He can play anywhere across the front three. So he'll hopefully add us a little bit of physicality - and goals obviously that we require.” Comments Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.