Dundee came from behind to end a run of four defeats in a row and secure a vital 3-1 William Hill Premiership victory over St Mirren at Dens Park.
The Buddies took the lead through Mikael Mandron but the home side hit back twice before the break thanks to an Alex Gogic own goal and a cracker from Drey Wright before Joe Westley sealed the win late on with his side’s third.
The result lifted Dundee up to ninth and relieved some of the pressure on under-fire boss Steven Pressley while the Buddies slipped to 10th with the Paisley side now having lost three on the bounce.
The hosts made two changes to the team that lost 2-0 at Hibs last week with Ryan Astley and Westley coming in for Imari Samuels and Paul Digby who both dropped to the bench.
The visitors kept faith with the same starting line-up that lost narrowly to Celtic in Paisley last week.
The first clear-cut chance fell to Dundee with Wright firing a cross from the left towards Westley but his shot was easily held by Buddies keeper Shamal George.
Instead, it was St Mirren who took the lead in the 27th minute. Home defender Clark Robertson played the ball straight to Mandron who clinically drilled a low shot from the edge of the box past Dundee keeper Jon McCracken.
The hosts hit straight back two minutes later when Yan Dhanda hit a long-range shot with Gogic deflecting the ball into his own net – the Dark Blues’ first goal in four matches.
And Dundee stormed into the lead in the 39th minute when Tony Yogane played a short pass to Wright at the corner of the St Mirren box and he smashed an unstoppable shot in off the post past George.
The home side looked to pick up from where they left off at the start of the second half with Yogane bursting down the left and sending a pinpoint cross to Cam Congreve but the Welshman’s header was just wide.
The Buddies tried to fight their way back into the contest but they failed to fashion clear-cut opportunities with McCracken having little to do as the hour mark passed.
And the Dark Blues made sure of the win in the 86th minute when Westley scored a cracker, curling the ball past George from the left-hand side of the St Mirren box.
Deep in stoppage time, Buddies sub Jonah Ayunga crashed a shot off the underside of McCracken’s bar from 18 yards but Dundee were the team celebrating at the final whistle.
