Joe Bevan ready to become Dundee's go-to man after dazzling in Aberdeen victory
· Scott Burns · 2026-08-10 · nguồn gốc
Joe Bevan ready to become Dundee's go-to man as Aberdeen match winner steals the show at Dens
The winger put on his Dark Blue best in the weekend win over the Dons, claiming a goal and an assist
Joe Bevan always knew this would be a big season for him at Dundee.
The winger impressed against Celtic on day one and then took his game to another level in this win over Aberdeen.
The former Albion Rovers youngster provided the cross for Joe Westley’s opener and sealed the win with his first Premiership goal of the season.
Bevan signed from Burnley in January and Steven Pressley planned to bed him in for six months before unleashing him on this campaign.
The 22-year-old said: “You want to play but I had to respect that the people in front of me were playing well.
“I just trained every day, the manager spoke to me a lot about the defensive principles, the attacking principles he wants from us.
“So it was actually quite nice once I got my head around that I was building for this season.
“Obviously when you do play you get a taste for it and you want to be involved more, but he was very helpful through that transitional period.
“It’s going to stand me in good stead this season, I can see it’s more beneficial now!"
It was difficult to get his head round, initially. He was coming from a Premier League club and was desperate for his chance.
The issue was that on-loan pair Cam Congreve and Tony Yogane were at the top of their games.
Bevan insisted: “When you’re not playing it’s harder to see that but I can see it now.
“I just enjoyed it and embraced it, I knew I could bring a lot to training and push myself mentally.
“But, of course, I wasn’t just sitting back enjoying my time. It was frustration in a good way, you can’t just mope about.
“The manager was always telling me he was happy with what I was doing and was doing well working on the things I had to improve on.
“I tried to learn from Cam Congreve, Tony Yogane, Scott Wright and the other boys knowing I could bring that into this season.
“I knew I’d get my chance so I knew I had to come back this summer ready.”
Bevan netted his first two goals of this season in the Premier Sports Cup against Annan. His performance against Aberdeen was even better.
Nesta Guinness-Walker just couldn’t cope with Bevan’s raw pace. He could have had a few first half goals, but he did provide the cross for Westley to volley in.
Dundee keeper Owen Goodman tipped Dan Happe’s header on to the bar, but apart from that the hosts were never troubled.
Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson made changes and his team did improve marginally but Dundee were better, faster and stronger. They scored the second when Joe Bevan got free and a cross and managed to fire into the net.
Bevan admitted: “Getting the goal is a monkey off my back. Scoring that first one in the Premiership is a big moment and it's about kicking on from here.
“It was a good afternoon for everyone, building on what we did on Monday against Celtic.
“We were disappointed after that because of the attacking situations we had. We felt we should have made more of that.
“In this game we wanted to make the most of them and score some goals. We could have done better and scored more goals, but we got two and got the win.
“Personally, I was disappointed I didn’t put one or two away in the first half but I had to keep going.
“I was happy with the cross I put in for Joe Westley then I got my goal.
“I think everyone can be happy with the performance.”
Bevan knew the Aberdeen defence didn’t know how to combat him.
He asked: “Was I surprised at the space I got?
“Yes, maybe in behind because I thought they’d maybe sit off and try to get me going one-v-one at them more.
“But they gave me the space to run into which you can’t turn down because it’s the quickest route to goal.
“Will they give me that much space at Pittodrie? I think there will be a couple of tackles being put in probably!
“But you’ve just got to replicate it and try to put in a better performance than this one.
“If people try to get tight then I look to get in behind because I know in a sprint I’m going to beat most people.
“And if they sit off, then I want to beat them one-v-one, put in some good crosses and try to get shots. I just want to use my assets best for the team.”
Steven Pressley called it the most complete performance in his time at Dundee. Robinson was at the opposite end of the spectrum.
It was a bump in the road and their first loss after five wins. The two teams met again at Pittodrie in the Premier Sports Cup on Saturday.
It has the makings of an intriguing tie. Bevan stated: “It makes next weekend’s game a bit tasty!
“They will be looking to respond and will have a point to prove. “So I suspect they will be all over us, but we will take confidence from it and the team won there last season too.
“So we’ll take the win, take the plaudits and then come back in to get ready for the next game.”