Gary Bowyer hoping to draw from Blackpool experience as new manager of Dundee

The 50-year-old arrived at Bloomfield Road in the summer of 2016 after the club had suffered the second of its back-to-back relegations.

The former Blackburn Rovers man turned it around immediately, winning promotion from League Two via the play-offs.

While the off-the-field picture isn’t quite the same, he has a similar job on his hands with Dundee who have just dropped back down to the Scottish Championship from the SPL.

Bowyer admits he will have to pick up his new squad of players and quickly turn things around for a promotion charge this coming season.

“We need to change the mentality a little bit because it’s been one of losing games and we’ve got to change that very quickly,” he said during his unveiling.

“I’m fully aware of how hard the Championship is but I’ve looked at the squad and that’s one of the things that appealed to me.

“I know some of the players from my time in England, but when we’re down the road we also try to pinch players from Scotland so we’re aware of players in the squad.

“We’ve got some good players and we’ll obviously need to add one or two, but as I say it’s exciting and we’ve got to have a right good go at it.”

During his first press conference at Dens Park, Bowyer revealed former Seasider Jim McAlister was one of the first people he spoke to before taking the job.

“Before I came up here I spoke to people who are associated with the club and people who have played for the club within the last six months or have worked here,” he added.

“There are also one or two people I’ve worked with closely back down the road, like Jim McAlister who was a captain for me at Blackpool and he played here. He spoke to me about the club and other people as well who have given me their opinions.

“You also deal with agents when you’re trying to bring players down to England and you build a relationship with them over a period of time and they’re keen to offer you an opinion on the club.

“Out of all the people I spoke to, nobody said a bad word about the club. They all spoke about the potential to get it right and how big the club is.”

If Dundee are to achieve promotion back to the SPL at the first attempt, Bowyer believes he will have to get the blend of his squad right - just as he did at Bloomfield Road six years ago.

“We built a good squad down there with a mix of young players and experienced players, some pace and power and we had a collective team spirit,” he explained.

“That’s the environment we created and the culture we developed as well and that’s what we’re trying to bring here.

“I’ve looked at the squad and there is that good mix already of some good young players and some experienced players. We’ve just got to try and bring them together as quickly as possible and hit the ground running.”