TONY Docherty has dismissed Philippe Clement’s claim that Rangers deserved to beat Dundee at Dens Park this evening and insisted his charges had been untroubled by their Ibrox rivals during the 0-0 draw.

Docherty’s charges performed well in their rearranged cinch Premiership match against Clement’s men and earned a point for their efforts at the end of the 90 minutes.

The former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock assistant, who secured a top six spot on Saturday, gave a curt response when he was told that his opposite number had stated the visitors deserved to come out on top.

“You watched the game and I would strongly disagree with that,” he said. “It was important in the last couple of games that I made sure my players were focussed for every game and we’ve kept that focus over the last two games. 

“We have got results that have been a reward for the focus shown and I thought tonight Rangers had a lot of possession, but I never thought they troubled us. 

“I think Scott Tiffoney should score from the first half free kick when Amadou Bakayoko was offside. So the icing on the cake would have been the goal to win it, but I felt in and out of possession our play merited a clean sheet against a very talented Rangers side with huge motivation."

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Docherty added: “I thought it was, again, a really fantastic performance by the team. I thought we went toe to toe with a really good Rangers team which has a huge motivation in the title race. 

“But who had the more motivation in that game there? As I say, I thought my players served up a fantastic performance out of possession and in possession. 

“I couldn’t be more pleased with them because I thought their focus going into the last two games was outstanding. And I thought we got our rewards tonight.

“What I’d asked of the team tonight and on Saturday as well was to give that disciplined performance to keep a clean sheet, because we are the third or fourth highest scorers in the league and we are always likely to score a goal. 

“But it’s important we show that discipline and organisation out of possession against a really top team to keep the clean sheet. That’s down to the players executing the game plan we set out on the pitch.”