Dundee showed “spirit and resilience in absolute spades” to finish off 2024 with a gutsy victory over St Mirren in Paisley.
That was after losing two central defenders to injury after just 22 minutes and playing the final 70 minutes with a makeshift backline.
A header in each half from Simon Murray won a crucial three points for the Dark Blues with Toyosi Olusanya equalising before the break.
Manager Tony Docherty admits questions were asked of his team after Boxing Day’s poor home defeat to Ross County.
But he hailed the mentality of his side after holding out for a key victory with injuries biting.
“The main feeling I have at the moment is one of real pride in my players,” Docherty said.
“The easiest thing to do as a group of players is to feel sorry for ourselves but I saw a group of players who were the absolute opposite of that.
“I’d asked them at the start of the game to show that mentality, spirit and resilience and I think they did that in absolute spades and deserved to win the game.
“It’s not the way we always want to win the game but it’s important that we can play that way and we can win ugly.
“There’s different wins in this league and for me that’s a really big win regarding the injuries and the questioning of the team.
“They’re knackered in there and every one of them has given everything.”
Injury crisis
The Dark Blues were already without Antonio Portales after being ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.
The injury front was already verging on crisis point – and then Billy Koumetio and Jordan McGhee both went down 20 minutes in.
Neither could continue and that meant there were no defensive options left on the bench with Sean Kelly and Ethan Ingram stepping into the back three with Ryan Astley in the centre.
Wing-backs were Josh Mulligan and Fin Robertson.
That was after playing a couple of minutes with just nine men.
But makeshift Dee found something despite the injuries and there was a galvanised look about them after losing the two key men.
The Buddies had more of the ball but the visitors more of the chances.
First home goalie Ellery Balcombe dropped a Seun Adewumi cross and Murray ended up with the chance to open the scoring but couldn’t beat Alex Gogic on the line.
On 28 minutes, Adewumi was too fast for Gogic but couldn’t beat Balcombe from an angle.
And then the opener came 60 seconds later. Mulligan stood up a fine cross from the right flank and Murray was there to plant the header past the goalie for his 10th of the season.
Dundee had rediscovered their confidence and looked good for their lead. But they would be pegged back.
The Buddies hadn’t really tested Trevor Carson but had found joy down Dundee’s left. And that’s where the equaliser came from with Elvis Bwomono crossing for Olusanya to head home for 1-1.
Gutsy
Despite that the Dee weren’t to be denied in Paisley, even when more players went down with injuries.
Olusanya and Seb Palmer-Houlden traded shots at each end before the all-important moment came on 66 minutes.
A moment that could kickstart Dundee’s season.
Robertson’s free-kick from deep was sent across by the impressive Ryan Astley and Murray was there again.
This time his header went in off the bar with a delayed reaction from the away fans before Murray sprinted away in celebration.
St Mirren put on the pressure in the closing stages but the Dundee defence held firm.
That’s despite Lyall Cameron going down twice with what looked like an ankle injury before soldiering on and Ethan Ingram too finishing with a limp.
This was the gutsiest of gutsy shows from Tony Docherty’s men.
Injuries
Who will be fit for Thursday’s derby with Dundee United remains to be seen.
And Docherty admitted he’ll be looking to the transfer market to bolster his options when the window opens on Wednesday.
“When the dust settles we’ll have to look at the squad and see where we are,” the Dundee boss added.
“After 20 minutes to lose two centre-halves with already having three centre-halves out…
“But we have big Luke Graham coming back, he did fantastically well at Falkirk, and Clark Robertson hopefully coming back soon.
“I’ll get together with John Nelms, Tim Keyes and Gordon Strachan along with the recruitment team to see if there’s anything we can do.”
On McGhee and Koumetio, Docherty added: “We need to assess them. Billy came off on a stretcher after rolling his ankle. It was fairly swollen.
“Jordan felt his hamstring and we didn’t want to take any chances with that.
“We’ll get them scanned and see where we are with them.”
Victory sees Dundee back up to eighth in the Premiership and five points off the top six.
Teams
St Mirren (3-4-2-1): Balcombe, Bwomono (Penman 82), Fraser, Gogic, Iacovitti, John, Smyth (Boyd-Munce 75), Philipps, Idowu (Ayunga 63), Kiltie (Mooney 75), Olusanya (Mandron 63).
Subs not used: Urminsky, Taylor, Adeniran, Scott.
Dundee (3-4-1-2): Carson, Astley, Koumetio (Kelly 22), McGhee (Ingram 22), Mulligan, F Robertson, Sylla, Cameron, Adewumi (Tiffoney 89), Palmer-Holden, Murray.
Subs not used: McCracken, Sharp, Main, Braybrooke, Vetro.
Referee: Nick Walsh
Attendance: 6,798
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