Steven Pressley braced for ‘creative’ January window and tough Motherwell test

Steven Pressley admitted there is “still a lot of work ahead” to get his Dundee side to the standard he wants.

The Dark Blues are third-bottom of the Premiership after winning just three league games this season.

“I think there’s still a lot of work ahead,” he said ahead of Saturday’s trip to in-form Motherwell. “We’ve still got to mould the squad in certain areas and bring in real competition in certain areas, so that’s something that obviously with January coming up we’ll be working towards.

“The January window is a difficult window, especially to get the players that you want because most clubs don’t want to let their players that have high potential out at this moment in time, so we’re going to have to work hard.

“We’re going to have to be creative around it. But we’ve also got players within the building as well that I think need to go out and try to find a way to play more games themselves.”

Pressley, whose side have won none of their nine away matches this term, is braced for a formidable test at Fir Park.

“They’ve been excellent this season,” he said. “They’ve gone nine in the league now unbeaten, five clean sheets on the spin, they’re a really progressive team who have dominated the ball in most games.

“It’s a real challenge for us but one that we have to embrace.

“I want us to be aggressive there, I want us to be confident. Our away form would suggest that it’s unlikely (Dundee will win), but that’s OK. That’s again another challenge for us.

“There’s a quiet confidence within the group, and I think it’s growing.”