Killian Phillips' first-half goal against Dundee secured St Mirren's second Scottish Premiership win of the season and moved Stephen Robinson's side third in the table.

Phillips diverted in Jonah Ayunga's low shot to give the Paisley side a deserved lead.

Dundee, without captain Simon Murray, had threatened an opener through Drey Wright before the hosts took control.

Alex Gogic was denied by Dundee's Jon McCracken and Ayunga skilfully evaded his marker to also test the goalkeeper. Had Ayunga scored, it would've been special.

Phillips shot wide late on and St Mirren saw out the match comfortably, despite the narrowness in the score, with Dundee unable to force much more than long-range efforts.

The match had been preceded by a minute's applause in memory of former St Mirren player and manager Jimmy Bone, who passed away in early September.

After three successive top-half finishes, St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson was adamant that games such as this are ones they must win if they want another top-six place come May.

Given how the Paisley outfit gained territory in the first half and controlled the second, it's only more obvious that Robinson has the Premiership sussed.

Should St Mirren continue to take this approach, they won't be far away come the split.

With Wright's well-struck shot that was saved, Dundee really could have set the tone in the Paisley rain but afterwards they found themselves retreating and retreating to the point where they couldn't get out.

In the second period, they were largely restricted to long-range efforts and Dundee's cause was not helped by the absence of Murray in attack.

Nevertheless, Steven Pressley's side, who are seventh but could slip below Motherwell and Livingston after their weekend fixtures, have had a solid enough start to the league season after a difficult Premier Sports Cup campaign and early exit.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We were in control of the game. We had ownership of the game without Dundee really creating a lot of chances in the second half. We're delighted with the result.

"Killian Phillips is infectious - his energy, his quality. He probably doesn't get that credit for how technically good he is. He drives us. He was the one that was leading the press. He triggers everybody else around him."

Dundee manager Steven Pressley: "There was very little in the game. Simon's always going to be a big miss.

"Something we put a big onus on is attacking set plays and set plays can be the difference in this league between being a top-six club and being a bottom-six club and today, our attacking set plays were really poor."

St Mirren are on the road next Saturday, playing their last game before the international break at Kilmarnock (15:00 BST).

Dundee are away from home, too, heading up the north-east coast to Aberdeen (15:00) before the Premiership's two-week hiatus.