Quick thoughts before I completely nod off after that dull fest of a match.
First half was incredibly boring. Lots of sideways passing from ICT which made Dundee work hard trying to close us down but we barely got forward when we had the ball and didn't seem to have much interest in trying to do anything positive with it other than retain possession. Best chance came when Draper attempted an audacious 40 yard lob but it sailed just over.
In the second half the ineffective Vincent was replaced by Watkins which allowed us to try and stretch the Dundee defence except we, erm, didn't and in fact managed to somehow play even more narrow at times. At one point Watkins, Christie and Doran were all hovering around the edge of the D. We did have some good chances to score with Shinnie perhaps having the best chance when he rifled a low effort at the Dee keeper but after the initial shot was spilled he blazed over. Warren also had a good chance from a header and Watkins led a four man break on three or four Dundee defenders but dallied on the ball too long and gave the ball away.
Dundee also had some good chances. Peter MacDonald twice managed to lose his marker from a free kick / corner but wasn't able to convert. His best chance came when he sped away from Meekings but thumped the ball over from about 6 yards out. Dundee also had a penalty claim turned down as well. Hard to see what happened from the other end of the pitch but it looked like we might have gotten away with one there. Overall a draw was a fair result I think.
From an ICT perspective I am somewhat concerned at our slow approach to the game. We seldom looked interested to try and do anything attacking wise with the ball often turning back and sending the ball back from midfield to defence to start over again. Good attacking positions were lost as we seemed to prefer the safer option of keep the ball at all costs. Vincent was all over the place playing out on the right hand side. He was out of position and left Raven exposed on a good few occasions and didn't really stretch the Dundee defence when he got forward drifting into the middle of the park with alarming regularity.
Once Watkins came on, and later Doran, I hoped we would stretch Dundee more and work some space for Ryan Christie to exploit. Instead, as mentioned previously, the three were often found in close proximity in the middle of the pitch and when the ball was played back to the full backs they had no wide men offering support on the left or right. To be honest, I thought we looked very disjointed for a fair chunk of the game with the players seemingly unsure where they should be or what to do. Improvements needed for us ahead of Motherwell especially going forward. We capitalised on two daft errors at Hamilton but Dundee were much more resolute at the back and look a tough side to break down. They should have enough quality to avoid relegation.