Jim McIntyre aims to make Dundee the hardest-working team in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

McIntyre has succeeded Neil McCann as manager with the Tayside club sitting bottom of the table after losing seven of their eight matches.

The former Dundee United striker faced a similar task at Ross County four years ago when he took over a side that had lost their opening five games, and led them to a ninth-placed finish.

The 46-year-old said: “First and foremost you just have to get that belief into players to go and win football matches.

“It’s not a quick fix, football doesn’t work like that. You hope to get off to as good a start as you can.

“Football can change very quickly in terms of confidence and players, and that’s what the aim will be, to try and make sure we get positive results. Because there’s a very good group of players in there who have got a lot of technical ability.

“But we need to try and be the hardest-working team in this league to match that ability. And that’s something I will be expressing to the players.”

McIntyre added: “It’s so important that we try and get off the foot of the table as quick as we can.

“There’s no point looking to the future just now, we have got to concentrate on what’s in front is us and we have two really tough games coming up against the form teams in the league (Livingston and Hearts) and we know we’re going to have to be at our best.”

The former Dunfermline and Queen of the South manager was surprisingly sacked by County 13 months ago with the team sitting 10th in the table, a year after leading them to a League Cup triumph and top-six finish.

McIntyre said: “I decided to take a break for the first four or five months and then I started looking for jobs again, but you knew at that stage it was going to be the summer and coming into the start of the season, because there weren’t many changes in the summer.

“I think it’s important that you don’t dive in at the first offer, which I haven’t done. There’s been a couple of opportunities to get back in.

“The last six months I have been frustrated and ready to work and I have just been doing my homework on other teams and how teams play, just keeping my eye in and looking to get myself back in a job.”