Steven Pressley's Dundee Win the Derby on the Road — Built on Grit, Reclaimed Careers, and Contacts South of the Border
Dundee won the Dundee derby away from home on 22 August 2026, and head coach Steven Pressley said he was "immensely proud" of his players. "I couldn't be prouder of them," he told BBC Sport. The win, he said, came down to something simpler than a tactical masterclass: his players' sheer determination not to lose BBC Sport.
That refusal to accept defeat away from home is something Pressley has thought about deeply. Winning on the road, he explained, means being "comfortable with the uncomfortable" — thriving when the crowd is against you and the conditions are hostile. Dundee United's Dylan Tait had reminded fans, in a derby-day preview video published the day before, that his side had beaten Dundee 6-2 and won 3-0 at Tannadice in the fixture's recent past Dundee United, Facebook. Dundee's answer was delivered on the pitch.
Drey Wright, signed from St Johnstone in the summer window, opened the scoring. Owen Bevan — a centre-back who spent time on loan at Hibernian in 2024 without making a single appearance — got the second. Pressley called Bevan "fantastic" alongside Ryan Astley at the heart of the defence. Astley, meanwhile, has just signed a contract extension keeping him at Dens Park until 2029 Dundee FC.
What makes this Dundee squad stand out is the route its players have taken to get here. Alan Forrest was picked up after being let go by Hearts. Forwards Charlie Reilly and Joe Bevan were playing for Albion Rovers — a lower-tier Scottish club — only a few years ago. This is a team assembled from football's margins, and Pressley has made them believe they belong at a higher level.
Ryan Flynn, an Arbroath midfielder who worked with Pressley at Falkirk, says the manager's gift is exactly that: instilling confidence and nurturing a positive environment where players feel they can perform BBC Sport. The results are starting to show.
Pressley's four years at Premier League club Brentford, where he developed his on-field coaching, have given him contacts that matter. Those south-of-the-border relationships helped Dundee secure loan deals over the past year, broadening the pool of talent available to a club operating outside Scottish football's financial elite.
The fixture came at a tricky moment. Aberdeen had beaten Dundee 3-0 in a Scottish Premiership match on 15 August, and a statistical preview from Dundee's own newsroom noted that Pressley's side had recently conceded three goals in 12 minutes Dundee FC. Earlier in the month, Pressley had described a league win over Aberdeen as the proudest he had been Sky Sports. The derby win at Tannadice may now have raised that bar.
Dundee's business off the pitch has been brisk as well. On 22 August, the club announced a season-long loan for Bradley Fink from Wycombe Wanderers. Bobby Wales arrived on loan on 20 August. Sixteen-year-old defender Charley Oosenbrugh, who has been with the Dundee Academy since the age of six, made his first-team debut — a reminder that the future is being woven into the present Dundee FC.
Next up for Dundee is a home match against Hibernian at Dens Park on 30 August. Bevan knows that opposition better than most — his unfinished business there, from a loan spell that never produced an appearance, adds a personal subplot. But if this derby proved anything, it is that Pressley's players are comfortable writing their own stories, wherever the football world had previously filed them away.
