Dundee boss Tony Docherty challenged his side to stay in the Scottish Premiership top six after they thrashed miserable Motherwell to rise to fifth.

Oluwaseun Adewumi put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute with a fine curled finish before Apostolos Stamatelopoulos fired in a near-instant equaliser.

Three second-half goals eased Dundee to victory though, with Scott Tiffoney's strike on the counter putting Docherty's side back in front before a Lyall Cameron double had them out of sight.

Motherwell's response was decent but they could not dent the deficit and instead recorded their third defeat in a row, falling to sixth.

"I was really pleased with the performance," Docherty said.

"Motherwell will always go right to the death, but the development of my team is we're seeing that through and making sure we defend properly, make good decisions in the final third, keep possession and I think there's a real maturity in my team now.

"We’re now in the top six - the challenge is stay there."

Stuart Kettlewell spoke before the match of his side needing to stop losing "poor goals", but it did not take long for them to concede one that might be considered preventable.

It was too easy for Dundee to get down Motherwell's right before Adewumi curled in a beauty from the left-hand side of the box.

The initial response was strong. Stamatelopoulos reacted quickest to a loose ball and fired in an equaliser at the second bite of the cherry.

But in seven second-half minutes, Dundee raced into an unassailable lead. Countering up the pitch, Tiffoney was freed and it was far too simple for him to cut inside and curl into the bottom corner.

Stunned by that goal, Motherwell conceded again. The ball sat up perfectly for Cameron on the edge of the box and his strike took a huge deflection to beat Aston Oxborough.

The fourth came three minutes later. Simon Murray barged Kofi Balmer off the ball and picked out Cameron in the middle, allowing him to find the corner of the net.

Motherwell had chances to reduce the arrears and Ewan Wilson, Lennon Miller and Steve Seddon all had long-range drives well saved by Jon McCracken.

For large parts of the game it was Motherwell driving forward in swathes, yet it was Dundee who danced off the pitch, soaked to the skin but jubilant.

After creeping into the top six last season at the first attempt following promotion from the Championship, they are now up to fifth and were applauded into the dressing room by the fans.

While the Dens Park side often fly under the radar, that won't be the case for Cameron much longer. He has filled the hole Luke McCowan left in midfield, becoming Docherty's most important player.

Although Dundee created fewer chances than Motherwell, they looked clinical and comfortable in front of goal, while McCracken - with the exception of Motherwell's goal - made a few fine saves.

The other thing that Kettlewell mentioned before the match was how Motherwell must not show Dundee "any weaknesses", yet it seemed his players weren't listening.

Although they had far more shots, a far higher xG (expected goals) tally, and far more touches in the opposition box, a lot of that was too little, too late.

Dundee were clinical, bullying a Motherwell defence that was put to the sword by Hibernian just a few days ago.

The first goal should have been stopped higher up the pitch. The second came from their own set-piece. The third was a deflection, and the fourth was a defender not wanting the ball as much as a hungry striker.

The bottom has fallen out of Motherwell's strong early season form and Kettlewell needs to address it urgently. He has been on far worse runs than this, but a busy festive period is the last thing he needs.

Dundee boss Tony Docherty: "Once again a fabulous win at home. I think it's really important we string our home performances together and that's three on the bounce we've won."

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "Kofi Balmer takes a knee and a stud to the head. I've had a conversation with [referee] John Beaton there and he decided to play god and decide whether it was a bad enough head knock or not.

"He never moves from the ground, the counter-attack goes up the other end, I'm talking to the fourth official telling them the player has not moved inside the penalty area and we choose to play on and Dundee score."