After Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Dundee, Jonny Hayes spoke to the media to reflect on the match at Dens Park:
“We knew there would be late pressure from Dundee but we didn’t deal with either set piece properly and it has cost us two points.
“To be fair, the referee has explained the decisions he made today, there is a couple he might have got wrong but again that is down to opinion. I am not going to blame the referee for us dropping points, we should have scored more with all the chances that we created.
“I said a few weeks if we didn’t win our three games (Hibs, Dundee & Ross County) we would have to rely on other teams and that is going to be the case. We dropped points today and next week we need to win and take care of our business and rely on Hearts to do us a favour. It is out of our hands and it is dissapointing.
“I think the game was frantic because of the pitch. Both teams had to deal with it and there has been a couple of games recently where the pitch has been a victim of the weather. I know it is a thankless task for the groundsmen to deal with. It is what it is and it was never going to allow a fluid game of football today. I don’t think many of the pitches in Scotland are great at the minute. We have trained all week and had to deal with the different weather conditions. We knew what we were expecting down here.
“Other teams in the league have got better this season, teams that haven’t been in the Premiership for a while and have come back in. The league is tougher than it was 10 years ago. That is my opinion. There is a lot more competition vying for the top six. Clubs know what it means for European football and the financial rewards and they know it is an incentive to invest a bit more and try to do better. I think there is just a bit more competition.”
“Other teams in the league have got better this season, teams that haven’t been in the Premiership for a while and have come back in. The league is tougher than it was 10 years ago. That is my opinion. There is a lot more competition vying for the top six. Clubs know what it means for European football and the financial rewards and they know it is an incentive to invest a bit more and try to do better. I think there is just a bit more competition.”
