THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
DAVID FERGUSON
THEY are not exactly popping corks for Christmas, but there is a strangely buoyant mood around Dundee HSFP that suggests the players pay little attention to league positions.

The club is second only to Glasgow Hawks - who they could pull into the relegation battle by beating this afternoon - in terms of bonus points gathered for losing tight games. But Mayfield has been a frustrating place of late as the Dundonians lost to Heriot's and Watsonians thanks to injury-time drop-goals and by just three points in a ten-try thriller with runaway league leaders Boroughmuir.

They languish bottom of the Scottish Hydro Electric Division One with just eight games remaining, but coach Ian Rankin believes the tables could be turned in Tayside's favour over the Christmas period.

"If you turned up at training this week you wouldn't guess we were bottom of the table," he said. "We have had 100 per cent turnout at training, even extra training sessions, and there is real enthusiasm through the squad which is great. I can't ask any more of them.

"I've been part of teams where everybody would be blaming everybody else, and that's when you think it's going to be hard to turn it around. But it's very different with this squad, which is why I believe we can turn it around in the next few games.

"I've lost count of how many we've lost by three points, and I think the narrow defeats affected some guys. We do need to learn to hold our nerve right to the final whistle, but these games proved that we could compete with the best in the league. We're playing with good shape, a game-plan that suits our players and they're convinced is the way forward, and we'll be fighting to the last game."

Rankin, the former Caledonian Reds and Edinburgh professional coach, will take charge of the Scotland amateur team later this season, and he admitted he has been pleased with the standard of play witnessed this term.

He added: "If you look at the teams fighting it out to avoid relegation it's sides that have come up in the last couple of years, largely because of the strength of squads needed to compete at the top level. But the standard is also markedly higher than last season. The fringe professionals coming back has helped lift the standard, and that's great for the game as a whole."

This article was posted on 8-Dec-2007, 08:12 by Hugh Barrow.