Forfar Athletic 0 Dundee 3

Pre-season fixture

Saturday 26 June 2021

Station Park, Forfar

As ever at the end of an initial pre-season friendly, the final score was hardly the first concern. Certainly, Forfar boss Gary Irvine’s calm demeanour after his side’s 3-0 defeat to Dundee was a clear indication of his priorities, especially against Premier League opposition. This was a day for watching, analysing and, afterwards, reflecting on the overall performance. The result? All but irrelevant. 

  The likelihood is that, for Irvine, this was a match containing far more positives than negatives. With a few new faces on display, a couple of trialists in the mix and the welcome return of Michael Travis from long-term injury - the defender was welcomed back onto the Station Park pitch by a warm round of applause - the manager, who played himself for the first hour, was making all the right noises after the final whistle.

  “The squad is looking good,” said Irvine. “I’m pleased with where we are. The new lads have brought a bit of quality to the club. Matty Aitken has come back to us a different player. He’s confident. He’s stronger. And he’s got goals in him. I’m looking for him to build on all that in the season ahead. Craig Slater in the middle of the park is another good technical player. He knows the game and can get on the ball in an important area of the pitch. PJ Crossan plays wide and will make good crosses. Craig Thomson, too. They are attacking players who can cause problems from those wide areas. But all of them have done well since they came in. They’ve adapted really well to how I want them to play.

  “We had a couple of trialists out there today. It’s difficult coming into a team on the back of only one or two training sessions. But it was good to see what they’ve got. We’ll take another look at them in the next couple of games. “The next couple of matches will be different tests and challenges. I’ll mix up the side again though. I want them all to get minutes in their legs and get their fitness up. That’s also what these games are all about.

  “I’m still looking to add a couple of players in certain areas. I want to make it competitive. I want everyone hungry and fighting for positions. That’s important and will drive up standards. We also have guys returning from injury, which is like finding new players. Steven Anderson and - soon - Darren Whyte will be back. That adds to my options and gives us some real quality across the back-four. There will be a lot of competition for places in that part of the side.”

  That battle will continue in the games to come this week, with matches against Brechin City and Cove Rangers likely to provide more feedback when it comes to attacking options. In that respect, the Forfar forwards could do worse than learn from the contribution made by former Scottish internationalist Charlie Adam during a second-half display of sheer class. There was a stunning similarity to all three Dundee goals; each one stemmed directly from Adam’s educated left-foot.

  “Today was all about seeing what we can aspire to,” continued Irvine. “Dundee are a premier league team now. They were always going to have a lot more of the ball than we were. So, as coaches, that gives us plenty to watch and work on. The aim was to put our boys under pressure when we don’t have the ball. How we dealt with that was a good exercise. Could we be organised? And yes, there was a five-minute period when Charlie showed us how good he is. He was hugely influential in getting Dundee promotion through the play-offs. And we saw that again today. He gave the game three real moments of quality. But that was what today was all about. Coming up against better players is always useful. It was a good test for us.”

  On one last happy note, Irvine was quick to acknowledge the presence of fans at Station Park. It wasn’t a big crowd - attendance was limited to season ticket holders only - but they made some noise.

  “It was brilliant to see some spectators here today,” he said. “It was good to hear the voices and the applause when the lads did have a good passage of play. Hearing that reaction gives everyone a boost. Hopefully things will progress and we can see more and more fans back at Station Park to help us on. I want to see the terraces filling up as the season goes on.”