Dundee 1 Hearts 1

STEVEN ROBB is proving a vital player in Dundee’s bid to clamber to safety.

The youngster’s versatility has seen him deployed in a number of roles for the Dark Blues and, against Hearts at Dens on Saturday, he almost snatched another goal to add to the one he scored against Inverness the previous week.

Now operating at left-back in place of the departed Jonay Hernandez, Robb’s tenacity in defence and pace and trickery in attack have made him a player for opposing sides to fear.

Robb makes no secret of the fact that his boyhood hero is Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs and, when asked if he would like to be able to combine the wing talents of Giggs with the finishing prowess of Wayne Rooney, he laughingly said, “I think I would be somewhere other than Dundee if I could do that!”

Of course, the youngster has just put pen to paper on a new contract so he looks set to continue his improvement in front of the Dens Park faithful for the foreseeable future.

He scorned a chance to put the home side two ahead minutes after Fabian Caballero had headed Dundee in front and just before Hearts substitute Joe Hamill equalised, and he reflected, “I think we should have got the three points.

“John Sutton had a chance and I had a chance as well.”

On his move from winger to defender, Robb commented, “I’m comfortable at left-back.

“I feel that I’m facing the play and finding it easier to run at people, and I’m getting forward just as much.

“I try to use my pace and be positive, that’s what the gaffer tells me to do.

“He’s always trying to help me and tries to improve my game—final ball, choice of pass, etc, so it’s up to me to work on that in training.

“I get frustrated myself if I can’t produce something that I know I’m capable of.

“I have to be as consistent as possible, that’s the main thing.

“The gaffer would be pleased if we could show that effort and determination through the whole team, not just me.”

There was something of a feelgood factor about Dens on Saturday, and this was echoed by Robb.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve been buzzing in training and we’re confident we can pull away from the relegation zone,” he said.

“I think that’s the first time we’ve put two decent performances together for a long time.

“The fact that big Lee Wilkie has signed, along with myself and Stephen McNally, is a plus, and hopefully Soapy (Derek Soutar) and Callum Macdonald will also sign soon.

“We’ve got a base of young Scots and that’s the main thing.

“We’re four points ahead of Livvy now and a win next week in the derby would be great.

“Hopefully we can carry on this form into the big game against United.”

Dundee boss Jim Duffy was in the enviable position of being able to field an unchanged team and will be well pleased with the efforts of his men against a strong Gorgie side.

Although Hearts had the bulk of the possession, the home side created the better chances and Sutton could have wrapped up the points with 71 minutes gone had he not blasted over from six yards after a Wilkie knock-down.

The Edinburgh men, minus Mark de Vries who has now departed to Leicester, looked insipid up front and seldom seriously threatened Soutar’s goal despite all their possession.

Caballero picked up the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award but no one could have argued had it gone to Neil Barrett, who had one of his best games in a dark blue shirt.

The former Portsmouth midfielder put in some biting tackles and made a number of incisive runs.

Wilkie, too, the most senior player in an extremely youthful Dens rearguard, recovered from a shaky start and eventually became the rock on which the Hearts attacks foundered.

It was also good to see Mark Fotheringham returning to something like his true form in a hard-working Dens midfield.

Duffy commented, “I was really pleased with the performance but I was a bit disappointed in the fact that we didn’t pick up all three points.

“It was a good open game with two teams playing with three forwards and so there was a bit of space for the midfield to go and play.

“A couple of weeks ago I’d have been jumping through hoops at getting a point from Hearts, so the fact that I’m disappointed shows the improvement we’ve made. A point apiece was probably fair.”

His counterpart John Robertson said, “I thought we dominated the first half, in terms of possession anyway, but I don’t think we hurt them enough.

“It was a lively second half which could have gone either way.

“We contributed to our own downfall regarding Dundee’s goal, but there was still a lot of work for Caballero to do and it was a good finish.”

Taken from The Courier