Dundee fell to a sixth straight Premiership defeat on a wet and windy night in Livingston.
The home side opened up a seven-point lead on the Dark Blues thanks to a Bruce Anderson double shortly after half-time.
It was a comfortable victory for David Martindale’s men against a Dundee side desperately needing reinforcements.
Dundee skipper Charlie Adam returned to the midfield while Shaun Byrne took a place on the bench alongside Leigh Griffiths and Jason Cummings.
There was an early blow, however, as Jordan Marshall pulled up mid-sprint clutching his hamstring and was forced off inside seven minutes.
An early Paul McMullan drive aside, Livi had the better of the opening half.
First, Bruce Anderson ran in behind only to see Adam Legzdins stop his attempted lob.
Then they should have been ahead on 26 minutes as the ball dropped for Anderson in the area.
A mad scramble from the Dundee defence saw Jordan McGhee block one goal-bound effort before another was denied.
Bruce blitz
Straight from the restart, Livi were inches from taking the lead as Legzdins touched an Anderson drive onto the bar.
From the resulting corner the ball fell at the far post for that man Anderson once more. This time the striker made no mistake with the low finish.
Paul McGowan had the chance to level things as he ran through on goal but his attempt to round Max Stryjek was stopped by the goalie.
It was then 2-0 from the same route as the first, an Odin Bailey corner from the left ending up at the feet of Anderson at the far post.
Poor defending from the visitors allowed the striker a look at goal and he made them pay.
A raft of substitutions followed, including Griffiths, but there was no saving a poor night for Dundee.
More evidence, if needed, that some sharp business is needed before the month ends to save their season.
Teams
Livingston: Stryjek, Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Penrice (Longridge 84), Holt, Pittman, Omeonga, Bailey (Forrest 74), Shinnie (Chukwuemeka 67), Anderson (Montano 84).
Subs not used: Maley, Jacobs, Kabia, McMillan, Boyes.
Dundee: Legzdins, Kerr, Fontaine, McGhee, Marshall (Elliott 7), Adam (Mulligan 58), McGowan (Jakubiak 65), Anderson, McCowan, McMullan (Griffiths 65), Mullen.
Subs not used: Lawlor, Byrne, Robertson, Cummings.
Referee: David Dickinson
Attendance: 1,612
