INTERIM Dundee manager Neil McCann has told Motherwell counterpart Stephen Robinson he's not crazy – and wouldn't have turned the Dens Park job down for anything.

McCann is bracing himself for a baptism of fire as the languishing Dens Park side gear up for tomorrow's Fir Park showdown as they bid to save their season.

Robinson reckons the 42-year-old former Sky Sports pundit was mad to give up his comfortable role on television in favour of a relegation scrap in the final five post-split fixtures, having replaced Paul Hartley at the helm of the Tayside club last week.

McCann, whose side occupy the relegation play-off place, believes he's already working towards turning things around and maintains he knows exactly what he's let himself in for in the crucial weeks which lie ahead.

McCann said: "There have been several people recently asking about my character, but that is something that has been with me since I was 16.

"Listen, I don’t think I’m off my head. I know the dangers of football, and I know this is a precarious position to take up in the game.

"But football is in my blood. I really do love it. When I do my Sky job, I hope that comes across, how passionate I am about football.

"I love the guts of it and I love the tactical aspect of it. I just love everything about it. So when the opportunity came up here it was just too difficult to turn down.

"I don’t know if it's mind games with the Motherwell manager. He can offer all the praise he wants. I think he is just touching on the precarious nature of football management.

"He might think my job at Sky was relatively easy, but I put demands on myself in that job as well.

"I’m delighted to be here to be honest. I’ve tried to bring that enthusiasm and that passion onto the pitch in the few days. I’ve had with the team. And I’ve not seen any player with their shoulders stooped.

"I’ve not seen anyone with their head down. I’ve actually seen the opposite – and that is exactly what I want."

McCann has been entrusted with the task of lifting Dundee out the doldrums and insists there's been nothing wrong with morale within the camp since taking over.

He added: "I think it has been one of positivity. It’s never easy – I’ve been there myself many times where the manager has changed around.

"Some players who had not been chosen might be happy for that to happen, others might not be.

"But the biggest thing for a new manager is that his first talk to the team is quite important. I had a really good time with the players on my first day on Thursday. I also made time last Tuesday, after I had been announced, where I touched base Tuesday and Wednesday with all the players individually, just to talk to them, make sure they knew my voice.

"Then I got them all together on Thursday and spent time with them – chatting through things ahead and what’s gone by and what we want to achieve. And that will only come through hard work.

"I’ve had a great reaction from the players – I couldn’t be happier. I worked them really hard Thursday and Friday – really hard – and it was always my intention to send them away where they spent some real quality family time at home.

"I thought that was important. The players have been through a tough time. Everybody knows the run that they have been on, but I absolutely believe in them.

"So I wanted them to get that time away with their families, and not even think about football, really.

"Then they came back in Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday we were in doing stuff, and it has been absolutely fantastic."

McCann needs no reminding about the perilous nature of his team in the Premiership but has absolute belief they can climb clear of the threat of relegation.

He said: “I am fully aware of where we are and where we want to be. I know the form the team has been in but, of course, it's a fresh start.

“I have seen enough of Dundee to know the squad. Having worked with them and placed the demands I have on them I am even more positive about what I’ve got here to work with.

“The guys in there are, to a man, of the same opinion. They are fully aware of what’s expected and what lies ahead.

“What has happened before, that’s gone. It has absolutely gone. It would have been different if I were in the job then, and in a position now going into the last five games.

“Instead, I am fresh into this and have a fresh outlook on the whole squad. I have now changed things to [suit] what I want to achieve because I am a different person.

“It’s not as if I think I’m different to Paul, it’s just that I have my own way and the players are now aware of that.”