3 talking points as Dundee stand up to major St Mirren test but how many players have they lost to injury?

At St Mirren, Dundee showed what happens when they are up against it.

The Dark Blues headed to Paisley up against the form table, up against a growing injury list, against criticism of recent displays and against the odds.

The Buddies had won their last three, including an impressive victory over Rangers just a few days before.

Dundee had lost their last three without scoring and were sliding down the Premiership table.

Lose and a repeat top-six finish would look awfully far off as we head into 2025.

But they didn’t.

Instead they followed up one of the worst showings under Tony Docherty with one of the gutsiest and picked up a big, big win in the process.

Courier Sport was in Paisley to pick out key talking points.

Turning point

Heading into the game Dundee were without Antonio Portales, Clark Robertson, Joe Shaughnessy, Ziyad Larkeche and Scott Fraser.

The last thing they wanted were any more injuries. Never mind in central defence.

Tony Docherty must have felt the football gods were against him when not only one but two defenders went down with injuries at the same time.

After just 22 minutes in Paisley, Jordan McGhee was lost to a hamstring injury and Billy Koumetio was stretchered off with an ankle problem.

Five centre-backs injured. Any squad in world football would struggle to cope with that.

For 70 minutes, Dundee’s back three was Ryan Astley in the centre with Ethan Ingram on his right and Sean Kelly on his left.

At wing-back was Fin Robertson and Josh Mulligan. Robertson is a central midfielder playing out of position while Mulligan has played at right wing-back but not so much at Premiership level.

It was certainly a makeshift defence but it put in one of the strongest defensive showings of the season.

These young players had to step up and step up they did. The loss of more defenders seemed to galvanise the team.

Astley was excellent, Ingram put in his best performance in a Dundee shirt and the two wing-backs played a part in both goals.

It could easily have been a moment for the Dark Blues to crumble. Instead they grew and battled to a very impressive win.

Simon Murray

Murray hadn’t been best pleased with his Premiership goal return this season.

Now, though, his fifth and sixth league goals of the campaign have him back in among the league’s top scorers.

And now that’s double figures in all competitions for the third time in his last four seasons.

After being affected by flu, this was Murray back to his pestering best.

It was a real battle against a rough and tumble St Mirren defence and it was a battle Murray certainly won.

His manager described the goals as “really good striker goals” – the frontman between the posts and showing that striker’s instinct.

Another striker may have let the earlier miss affect them, particularly after six games without a goal.

He’d been unable to beat Alex Iacovitti on the line after St Mirren goalie Ellery Balcombe made an error.

But he wasn’t missing when Mulligan sent in an inch-perfect cross. And certainly wasn’t missing the second when Astley’s centre came in.

Bang in form before facing his former team on Thursday.

Derby

It’s a big one to kick off 2025 as high-flying Dundee United make the very short trip across the road.

This was exactly the sort of pick-me-up Dundee wanted to go into that mammoth contest.

However, who will be fit to face their rivals is a big question.

Antonio Portales is certainly out and it’s unlikely Clark Robertson will be back but Luke Graham will be available.

It would be a big surprise to see Billy Koumetio available and Jordan McGhee will be a real doubt, too.

He’ll play through pain but any risk of long-term damage to the hamstring is unlikely to be taken.

Then there’s Ethan Ingram, who was limping around at the final whistle. He was actually booked for time wasting at the end but it appeared to be because he didn’t want to get treatment and have to leave the field of play.

Lyall Cameron, too, got treatment twice for what appeared to be an ankle injury but soldiered on through the final moments.

Scott Fraser remains out but new loan signing Cesar Garza will be available on Thursday.

Two extra players are available but who knows how many they’ve lost?