Hearts continued their recent resurgence after a rampant 6-0 Scottish Premiership win over a hapless Dundee extended their unbeaten run to six league games.

The visitors were coasting after two first-half strikes in two minutes from Lawrence Shankland and Blair Spittal, before a second-half double from Elton Kabangu and goals from Musah Drammeh and Kenneth Vargas sealed a commanding victory.

Victory moves Neil Critchley's side above Dundee into seventh in the division and to within a point of the top six.

Much was expected from a game in which two of the Premiership's form teams were going head to head.

Hearts took charge from the off and their captain Shankland - making his first start since the end of December - opened the scoring with a magnificent turn and shot for just his fourth goal of the season.

Spittal scored an even better effort moments later, lashing the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box to double the capital club's advantage.

Hearts could have been further ahead at break, had it not been for Dundee goalkeeper Trevor Carson, who produced several excellent saves.

The hosts' only chance of the first half saw Simon Murray head straight at Craig Gordon from a few yards out.

It was game over early in the second half when Kabangu got on the end of Shankland's sumptuous defence-splitting pass, before cooly slotting the ball under Carson to make it 3-0.

Dundee's abject afternoon was summed up on 66 minutes when Carson dropped the ball whne trying to claim a cross and Musa Drammeh had the easiest of tasks to prod the ball home from close range.

Kabangu got his second, and Hearts' fifth, with a stunning volley from 16 yards, before Kenneth Vargas completed the rout in injury time with a drilled low shot.

After their woeful start to the campaign, this game provided further evidence Hearts are a team heading in the right direction.

To come to Dens against an in-form Dundee - a venue where each of the top three in the Premiership have failed to win – and leave with the points is a fine achievement.

However it was the manner of this ruthless win which was particularly impressive.

Neil Critchley's side are now unbeaten in seven games in all competitions. The challenge now is to keep that sort of form going.

If they can, a season that looked like it was going to deliver very little could yet yield plenty.

And while it has not been a campaign to remember so far Shankland, he looked in the mood here. Whatever the future holds for him, he could have a big part to play between now and the summer if he can build on this display.

This has been been a strange season for Dundee. They are in the mix for a European place but are also having to look over their shoulder with the relegation play-off place a concerning vision in their rear-view mirror.

Tony Docherty's team have shown enough of late to suggest they will be able to get themselves away from things at the wrong end of the table.

But, like a number of other teams in a similar predicament, that lingering concern will remain hovering on the horizon until they do.

While things certainly didn't go according to plan here – with players like Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan in their ranks – you do feel it wont be too long before Dundee find themselves back winning.

But the manner of this defeat will undoubtedly be a real cause for concern for Docherty, who must find a way of lifting his players for their daunting-looking midweek trip to Celtic.

Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "For all the credit we got for recent performances, we now deserve a lot of criticism, and I deserve a lot of criticism because I lead the group. I apologise to the Dundee fans.

"It is a new group, a very young team. It can happen. It is important to learn from that. It is my job to improve on that performance. The fans should not see that type of performance."

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "It is not often you win away from home in the fashion we have done today. Some of the goals we scored were fantastic goals. We were clinical on the break and we kept the clean sheet, which is always a good sign.

"Maybe [Shankland] just needed that little break to freshen himself up physically and mentally. He has looked sharper in his mind in training. It is no surprise he scored like that today."