Dundee ran out 3-1 winners over St Mirren on Saturday afternoon to end a run of four defeats in the Scottish Premiership.

An own goal from Alex Gogic and goals from Drey Wright and Joe Westley gave Dundee a much-needed victory and lifted them up to ninth in the Premiership table.

It was the visitors, St Mirren, who started the brighter of the two sides and looked a constant threat from set pieces in the early stages. They began to create a few half chances inside the Dundee box; however, Luke Graham did well defensively to clear any danger.

Dundee’s first chance of the match came on the 15th minute mark when Drey Wright’s delivery into the box was met by Joe Westley; however, the Dundee winger was unable to get a proper connection onto the ball to trouble Shamal George, as he comfortably collected.

Following this, St Mirren carved out two chances of their own in quick succession. The first coming when Marcus Fraser looked destined to head beyond Dundee goalkeeper Jon McCracken until a Dundee body got back in time to clear the ball over the bar.

The second coming when Conor McMenamin whipped a powerful ball across the face of the goal for Dan Nlundulu, whose effort sailed narrowly wide of goal.

St Mirren had the lead on the 25th minute.

Slack passing from Dundee defender Clark Robertson within his own half allowed Mikael Mandron to drive forward with the ball and rifle an effort from distance past McCracken to give his side a deserved lead.

Dundee wasted no time in responding to going behind as they had an equaliser within minutes, with an Alex Gogic own goal putting them on level terms.

Hearts loanee Yan Dhanda let fly from range; Gogic attempted to put a leg out in hope of blocking the shot; however, all it did was take the ball past the helpless Shamal George.

It was an end-to-end affair now with both teams showing a real desire to get forward.

Dundee came from behind to lead with five minutes remaining, as Drey Wright’s thunderstrike from the corner of the box went in off the post. Shamal George looked to get a touch to it; however, he couldn’t keep it out as Dundee went into the break ahead.

The tempo of the game appeared to slow down in the second half; however, Dundee pushed to add to their advantage early on, when Tony Yogane beat his man with a neat piece of skill before crossing high into the Dundee box for Cameron Congreve, whose headed attempt sailed wide of goal.

Moments later, Jayden Richardson’s strike for St Mirren from 20 yards out flew just over the crossbar.

Richardson was quickly involved up the other end as his clearance was blocked, leaving Simon Murray with freedom to strike, but his effort was tame and went comfortably into the hands of Shamal George.

From that point onwards, St Mirren had Dundee pinned back into their own half for much of the second 45, with Dundee unable to get a proper foothold on the game.

Frustrations began to grow for St Mirren as they looked to their bench with twenty minutes to go, making a double change with Roland Idowu and Jonay Ayunga coming onto the park, with Conor McMenamin and Mikael Mandron making way.

St Mirren continued to pile pressure onto the Dundee backline, but despite Saints controlling possession, Jon McCracken remained untested.

With four minutes of additional time to go, Dundee netted a third to all but secure a vital three points for Steven Pressley’s men.

Joe Westley’s curling strike from outside the box completed what was a much-improved performance from the Dees.