Tony Docherty hailed his depleted Dundee side after they left St Johnstone with three crucial Premiership points thanks to a 3-1 win at McDiarmid Park.
The Dark Blues headed to Perth with SEVEN players missing through injury but roared into a three goal lead after just 22 minutes.
Simon Murray notched after three minutes before Seb Palmer-Houlden and Lyall Cameron had the visitors cruising to victory.
They did, though, have some work to do and former Dee loanee Josh McPake pulled one back for the struggling Saints.
But Dundee saw out the win and Docherty was full of praise for their response to Thursday’s derby disappointment.
“I’m full of admiration for the players today,” the Dens gaffer said.
“You all know how depleted we are.
“We had a gameplan and the players executed it. St Johnstone are a good team and you need to do a lot of things out of possession properly.
“We were really organised against the ball and then in possession, carrying that threat, having the speed, having the power, having the pace, having the quality.
“The three goals got the game won. And then after that, we had to do a job.
“We were stinging after the derby but this group always bounce back and that’s real strength. That’s real resilience.
“With the amount of injuries we have it is huge credit to the players to carry out the gameplan.
“And you see the reception they get from the fans.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Quickfire treble
One change for Dundee saw the injured Fin Robertson drop out for Scott Tiffoney at left wing-back.
The Dark Blues were smarting after their derby dismay – and they took it out on St Johnstone, just like their manager wanted.
Within 22 minutes they had racked up an unassailable lead.
It took just three minutes for an error from Saints goalie Josh Rae to set the Dee on their way, Simon Murray making the most of the mistake.
Murray found the corner to fire in his fourth goal in three games and his 13th of the season.
The first came from a free-kick, the second from a corner on 10 minutes. The initial delivery was cleared before Tiffoney stuck it back in for the ball to drop to Clark Robertson.
The big defender fired goalwards with a deflection seeing Seb Palmer-Houlden scramble in at the far post. A lengthy VAR check eventually gave the green light.
And on 22 minutes it was 3-0. Andre Raymond lost possession in midfield and Dundee broke with Josh Mulligan crossing for academy pal Cameron to smash home his eighth of the campaign.
Saints boss Simo Valakari made two changes after just 28 minutes after a disastrous start for his side.
The home side had enjoyed the vast majority of possession and had more shots than the visitors in the opening half but the Dark Blues were clinical in their finishing.
Hold what you have
The second period was pretty much attack v defence with Dundee happy to hold onto their lead and try to hit on the break.
St Johnstone pushed and pushed and got into decent areas but didn’t have the quality to break down the visiting defence.
Substitute McPake made an impact for the home side and rattled in his first St Johnstone goal with a fine strike on 67 minutes.
A late deflected Nicky Clark effort had Trevor Carson scrambling but the keeper dealt with that and Dundee dealt with the rest of the game.
The three points puts the Dee up to eighth place in the Premiership table, two points behind St Mirren in sixth.
Fin Robertson
The closing stages were tough on the legs of a clearly tiring side after a punishing run of fixtures combined with an increasing injury list.
Added to that is Fin Robertson. The Dens youngster has been a regular starter in recent weeks but was absent for this one.
“Fin has a problem with his patella in his knee so he wasn’t available,” Docherty explained.
“We had a look at him yesterday and hoped he’d be better for today.
“But he’s unfortunately another to add to the list.
“We’re hoping it will be a short-term thing.”
Teams
St Johnstone (4-2-3-1): Rae, Mikulic, Raymond (Essels 28), Sanders, Clark, Carey, Wright, Sidibeh, Smith (Kucheriavyi 28), Sprangler, Kimpioka (McPake 58).
Subs not used: Hepburn, MacPherson, Keltjens, Franczak, Dair, Brookfield.
Dundee (3-4-1-2): Carson, Graham, C Robertson, Astley, Mulligan, Tiffoney, Sylla, Cameron, Adewumi (Garza 76), Palmer-Houlden (Main 84), Murray (Ingram 68).
Subs not used: McCracken, Sharp, Braybrooke, Vetro.
Referee: David Dickinson
Attendance: 5,256
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