NEIL McCann has warned Dundee’s strikers they must improve after watching his side repeatedly pay the price of poor finishing this season.

The Dark Blues followed up their 2-1 opening-day defeat to St Mirren with a 1-0 loss at home to Aberdeen on Saturday.

Against the Buddies, Sofien Moussa missed a penalty with the teams level and again at the weekend the marksman was guilty of passing up a gilt-edged chance to put the Dens Park men in front.

With strike partner Jean Mendy and defender Josh Meekings also wasteful against the Dons, McCann has been left frustrated by his team’s finishing.

And, with Shrewsbury Town forward Sam Jones apparently turning down a move to the club, McCann is desperate for an improvement in front of goal.

The Dundee boss, who is keen on Ayr United top scorer Lawrence Shankland, said: “We created three, in my mind, 100 per cent chances, and the disappointing thing is we’ve not made the goalkeeper work.

“That’s the responsibility our front players hold. I’m asking our boys to be solid, defensively, and deal with [the opposition] threat, and then our boys need to come up trumps for us.

“There were lots of good performances but when you’re creating three clear opportunities to go and work the goalkeeper, and you don’t do it, then that gives us our own problems.”

McCann added to DeeTV: “That’s two games where we’ve lost by a single goal and it’s four times now we’ve lost by a single goal to Aberdeen.

“So, there are fine margins there. But in so many of these games we’ve had the opportunity to take a lead and then hold onto it, and we’ve haven’t done it, and we’ve paid the price.”