Dundee

Ethan Hampton
Fan writer

Dundee weren't at their best but they were certainly at their most effective on Saturday.

A 2-0 win at home sounds like a straightforward story but there is plenty of subject matter to sink our teeth into.

Starting with the clean sheet, that was Dundee's first league game without conceding any goals since October! To find Dundee's last clean sheet at Dens Park in the Premiership you'd have to go back to last April (last season!) when we drew with Rangers just before the split.

Experience was the key, it was the first time Joe Shaughnessy played alongside fellow veteran Clark Robertson and they ensured that the goalkeeper had very little to deal with over the course of the game.

Seb Palmer-Houlden and Billy Koumetio both returned after lengthy spells on the sidelines and they looked very sharp, as if they hadn't missed anything.

It's also went under the radar in recent weeks that Ziyad Larkeche appears to be back at his best since he came back from injury.

Then there is the case of Simon Murray. No one has scored more goals in the Scottish Premiership than him since 2023. He is currently the league's joint top goalscorer and in the form of his life. Any forward who is in the race for the golden boot when their team are sitting in the bottom half of the table deserves their flowers.

He's on a sensational run just now scoring in six consecutive league games, a goal against Hibs on Sunday would match a post-war record of scoring in seven consecutive games – currently held between all-time top goal scorer Alan Gilzean and David Clarkson. If Murray meets that feat he'll be two games off the all time record of nine, set by Johnny Bell in 1920. A fascinating sub-plot in the midst of his blazing hot form.

With Scotland's friendlies against Iceland and Liechtenstein coming up in June, I think it would be a daft decision from Steve Clarke to snub the Dundee striker given he is outperforming Kevin Nisbet and James Wilson who were enrolled in the last national squad.

From a narrative perspective, it would be another fairy tale story in Scottish football – Murray was playing in the third tier of Scottish football just four years ago, if he managed to earn a Scotland cap at 33 then it would be right up there with inspiring stories of Andy Considine and Nicky Devlin.

With a fully fit squad I feel Dundee have nothing to fear heading into the season's final stage, including a trip to Easter Road against a Hibs team who are unbeaten in 16 games. We are currently unbeaten against Hibs this season and a result in the capital would be a massive morale boost for heading into the split.

A decision on the proposed new 12,500-seater Dundee FC stadium at Camperdown Park will be made on 19 May at the earliest after Dundee City Council's April planning committee meeting was cancelled due to lack of business. (The Courier), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Dundee secured a vital 2-0 win over St Mirren on Saturday in their fight to avoid the drop and have two players in my team of the week.

Mo Sylla is an unsung hero in the heart of the Dundee midfield. Exactly the sort of player you want in a relegation battle.

Simon Murray is a constant livewire up front for the club that he loves. The 33-year-old striker always looks like he can make something happen. Two goals against St Mirren took his season tally to 21 in all competitions.

Age might be against him but given Scotland's seemingly unending search for a striker, he must be in Steve Clarke's thoughts for the end-of-season friendly matches.

Watch highlights as Dundee win 2-0 against St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

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We asked for your views on Dundee's 2-0 win against St Mirren.

Here's what some of you said:

Boab: Certainly not our best performance but a massive three points. We're far too open in midfield and seem to give up possession too easily, however, in saying that we are certainly good up front. Delighted with the victory.

Mark S: Excellent result. Dundee showed their fighting qualities. The win brings them back to Kilmarnock and Ross County. The home/away games post-split will be so important now.

Iain: Great result! It's a sad fact that this was our first home clean sheet in the league this season - 67 goals conceded and 23 points dropped from a winning position. We can do a whole lot better. Well done to Simon Murray, 21 goals, we'd be relegated already without him.

Mark D: Huge result. Not the prettiest but points are all that matter at this stage of the season. Money well spent to get Murray in. Who knows where we would be without him. Hopefully can get another three wins from the remaining games and should avoid the play-off.

Jefcal: We keep hearing about leaky defence but we have no midfield balance. Mo Sylla wins lots but does not create or score. No midfielder can slow things down and make a pass to our strong front players. Hence defence put under pressure. Well done but St Mirren deserved a point, 4-4-2 may be way to go.

Kenny: Solid display, great to see defence keep a rare deserved clean sheet, no issus up top despite having poor lack of depth. What an important signing Murray has been, deserves all the plaudits, it's been a brilliant season for him, such an important figure around the club and gives his all every single week. Just wish he was five years younger!

Image source, SNS

• Dundee have scored in their last seven games in the Premiership, their longest scoring streak this season.

• St Mirren have failed to score in 12 of their 32 games, only Ross County (14) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.

• Simon Murray scored after just one minute and 27 seconds, the fastest goal for Dundee in the Premiership this season.

• St Mirren attempted 20 shots in this game, their highest total in a single match in the Premiership this season.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Scotland at Dens Park

Image source, SNS

Dundee's recent performances have fuelled belief they can avoid the drop from the Scottish Premiership, says Simon Murray.

Murray, 33, scored twice in Saturday's 2-0 victory over St Mirren, giving the second-bottom side an eight-point cushion over St Johnstone.

"It's the performances over the last few weeks we have taken our confidence from," said Murray, who has 21 goals for the season including 15 in the league.

"At the same time we can't get carried away and need to keep doing the things we have been in recent weeks - that continuity of performance levels in recent weeks."

Murray scored the opening goal within the first two minutes at Dens Park and added a second after the break.

"We have been starting games well over the past month to six weeks," added Murray. "We just had to concentrate on our performance. We just had to start the game well and we did.

"We have the threat going forward but defensively I thought that was probably the best we have been this season.

"We know how good a team St Mirren are. We knew the importance if starting the game well."

Dundee's Scottish forward Simon Murray, 33, deserves international recognition, believes his club boss Tony Docherty. (Scotsman - subscription required), external

Docherty says Dundee duo Oluwaseun Adewumi and Clark Robertson are "fine" after both came off with knocks towards the end of Saturday's 2-0 win over St Mirren. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Sunday's Scottish gossip

Did you take in Dundee's 2-0 win over St Mirren or were you following from home?

Have your say on the match

Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "I'm absolutely delighted for the boys, I think they got the rewards for the effort they put in.

"The clean sheet's the most important thing. The two centre-backs in particular, I thought they were magnificent. They know if they can defend, we've got players in the team that will score and that's a great feeling.

"It just now gives us that platform. I'm not bothered about looking at the league table. The consistency of performance will get us out."

Image source, SNS

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Scotland at Dens Park

Given all the pressure on a Dundee defence which had conceded 67 goals in the league, this was a victory in so many ways for the home side.

There are no secrets when it comes to knowing how St Mirren play, with plenty of balls fired into the box, but those were marshalled at the back magnificently by Joe Shaughnessy.

And when you have a goal machine up front in Simon Murray, you are always going to have a chance. His style and awareness throughout the game was a joy to watch.

Dundee may remain second bottom but they certainly showed they are more than up for a fight to retain their top-flight status.

Image source, SNS

It was Simon Murray's day at Dens Park as his two goals defeated St Mirren and secured Dundee a valuable three points.

Image source, SNS

Fin Robertson, 22, is eager to take over from Lyall Cameron, 22, at Dundee when the midfielder moves to Rangers at the end of the season. (Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

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Dundee are still without Lyall Cameron and Scott Fraser (groin) but Antonio Portales, Seb Palmer-Houlden and Clark Robertson are all back in contention after injury.

St Mirren's Toyosi Olusanya returns from suspension. Conor McMenamin has started training again after a long-term calf complaint but the game comes too soon.

Alex Iacovitti had an epidural as he looks to recover from a back problem while Elvis Bwomono (calf) and Evan Mooney (ankle) are still out.

Andy Campbell
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Among those challenging Daizen Maeda for the Premiership's golden boot is Dundee's Simon Murray.

The 33-year-old forward and Dundee United counterpart Sam Dalby both sit on 13 league goals, two behind Celtic's Maeda.

Murray netted his fifth in six games in last weekend's loss to Rangers.

It's St Mirren at home for Dundee on Saturday and Murray scored both when the sides last met in Paisley in December, sealing a 2-1 victory for Tony Docherty's side.

A repeat performance would be welcomed by his manager, with the Dark Blues still second bottom, five points above St Johnstone.

Murray is no stranger to a relegation scrap, having helped County survive the play-offs over the past two seasons, and seems just the sort of character that relishes such a battle.

Read all the weekend Premiership picks

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Aaron Donnelly insists the defence shouldn't solely shoulder the blame for the alarming number of goals Dundee have conceded this season.

Defender Donnelly is craving a clean sheet in Saturday's home game against St Mirren after the 4-3 defeat by Rangers last week kept the Dark Blues in the relegation play-off spot.

"We spoke after the game, we said that three goals should be enough to win any game but at the end of the day it comes down to us as a team," said the 21-year-old.

"It is not just the defenders and goalkeeper, it is the team to keep a clean sheet and that is what we will be striving for on Saturday.

"The mood is good, everyone knows we have to go in and try to take maximum points from every game.

"We know we are the only people that can get us out of this situation because we are the people who put us in it. But most importantly everyone is going to fight for each other and we know what the end objective is."

Donnelly says casting aside the negatives is nothing new for Tony Docherty's side, who have just one win in 10 league games and have shipped 67 goals in their 31 Premiership matches.

"I think it has happened a lot this season where we have had to put the negatives aside and just think about the positives," he added.

"Especially when we conceded 12 goals in one week, we had to put the negatives away and think about the positives and it is no different this week.

"We know St Mirren are on a good run of form, they had a great result last week against Kilmarnock but we will be hoping to turn them over."

• After their 2-1 victory in December, Dundee are looking to pick up successive top-flight league wins over St Mirren for the first time since August 2014 (three in a row).

• St Mirren have only suffered one defeat in their last eight top-flight away games against Dundee (W4 D3), going down 4-0 in November 2023.

• In 2025, Dundee have picked up fewer points in the Scottish Premiership (9 – W2 D3 L7) than any other side. The Dark Blues have won just one of their past 10 league games (D3 L6), and none of their past eight at home (D3 L5).

• St Mirren's last four league games have all seen at least four goals scored (21 in total – 5.25 per game), with the Buddies scoring 10 and conceding 11 in this spell. Indeed, their 5-1 win over Kilmarnock last time out was the first time they scored five goals in a Premiership match since a 5-1 victory at Dundee United in January 2021.

• Dundee have dropped a league-high 23 points from winning positions in the Scottish Premiership this season, forfeiting a two-goal lead against Rangers last time out to lose 4-3. On the other hand, only Celtic and Motherwell (both 4) have recovered fewer points from losing positions in the competition this term than St Mirren (6).

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Tony Docherty hopes Dundee can tighten up now he finally has the full complement of defenders he has been "striving for all season".

Despite scoring eight goals in their last three games the Dark Blues have conceded nine and suffered two defeats.

That has been a recurring theme for the Premiership's leakiest team, who are currently 11th in the table, just five points off the bottom.

Speaking prior to Saturday's visit of St Mirren, Docherty revealed "we have had a real honest chat in training sessions this week" about sorting their defensive issues.

He added: "We are sitting top goalscorers in the league, as we were this time last year before the split, behind Celtic and Rangers.

"But we have been hampered a lot by injuries, particularly to experienced central defenders. The most pleasing thing for me now is, when I took training today everybody is back, all the defenders are back.

"Over the season I have missed Joe Shaughnessy for 31 appearances, Clark Robertson for 22, (Antonio) Portales for 11, (Billy) Koumetio for five, Jordan McGhee for 10. Trevor Carson comes into that and Ziyad Larkeche as well, so that hampers you, those injuries."

Dundee's season was summed up by their heartbreaking defeat at home to Rangers last weekend as they squandered a two-goal lead in the final 15 minutes to lose 4-3.

"I think you have seen all season, particularly in our last two league performances, how brave we are as a team, how front foot and attacking we are," said Docherty.

"But behind the ball is what has let us down, that is where we need to find further improvements.

"I always think the answers are in the building. They have been in the building but they have been in the treatment room, but now they are on the training pitch and that is where we hopefully can change really positive performances into positive results."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Dundee manager Tony Docherty has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premiership visit of St Mirren.

Here are the key points:

• The management and players had "a real honest chat" this week to try to address the ongoing defensive issues but Docherty has been "really encouraged by our last two performances".

• He says they have been hampered this season by injuries, particularly to experienced centre-backs, but "all the defenders are back" now and Docherty has the "competition for places defensively that I have been striving for all season".

• The Dark Blues boss adds: "I always think the answers are in the building. They have been in the treatment room, but now they are on the training pitch."

• St Mirren will be a "difficult" opponent and are a team with "an identity" but Docherty says Dundee "are a good side with a real identity".

• Lyall Cameron and Scott Fraser are the only absentees this weekend.

• On league reconstruction being back on the agenda, Docherty is in favour of a bigger top flight and says Dundee owners John Nelms and Tim Keyes also back expansion "because that might allow the promotion of young footballers".

Image source, SNS

Outscoring your opponent is the name of the game in football, but not in the way Dundee might need to go about doing it.

Only Celtic and Rangers have scored more league goals than Tony Docherty's men this term, but they still find themselves in the relegation play-off spot.

That is because they have conceded a whopping 67 goals, by far the most of any team in the division.

In fact, it is 10 more than bottom side St Johnstone, who have conceded the second most.

With just seven games of the top-flight season remaining, there is little to suggest anything drastic will change when it comes to the defensive side of Dundee's game, especially when you consider they have kept just one clean sheet all campaign.

As simple as it sounds, does that mean outscoring the opposition with a gung-ho approach is the best formula?

Dundee-based football writer George Cran, of The Courier and Evening Telegraph, says that is a hope to cling on to for Docherty and his team.

"What gives me hope is going forward they can outscore the opposition," he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "I think that should see them safe in the end, but we'll have to see. It might be tough.

"It was an issue last season, they conceded too many goals even though they had a really good season and finished in the top six. A big issue is a lot of the players are learning their trade in terms of how to defend at this level.

"Also, we shouldn't forget, they lost Luke McCowan, who was their best player. The middle of the park has been an issue all season as well."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Dundee's defeat to Rangers summed up their season as they were left pondering another case of 'what if?'.

The Dark Blues succumbed to a stoppage-time Cyriel Dessers goal in a game they led by two in heading into the final 15 minutes.

It was a microcosm of what has gone wrong this term. Once again the defensive frailties that have dogged them were exposed - and they have now shipped nine goals in the past three games, which further emphasises the problem.

An inability to see a match out was also highlighted again, with Docherty stressing the "need to manage the game" in his post-match comments.

His side have lost 23 points from winning positions in the Premiership this season, more than any other team.

If you were to add those 23 points on to their current tally, they would be comfortably in the top six and pushing for their Europe instead of languishing in second bottom.

They have pace, they have strength, they have goals - qualities most teams in the bottom six are crying out for.

But the benefits of those positive attributes are being neutralised by their defensive frailties outlined above.

All is not lost - the manager has seen enough to know his team, when they are on it, can be more than a match for anyone in the division.

He just needs to find a way of getting it all working together on a more regular basis between now and the end of the season.

If he can, you get a sense all will be well. If he can't, then the Dundee fans should prepare for a relegation scrap.

Image source, SNS

Is the Scottish Premiership in need of a shake-up? If so, how do you go about it?

News emerged on Tuesday that the SPFL is considering changing Scotland's top flight to a 10, 14 or 16-team division in an attempt to help reduce fixture congestion.

In its current 12-team form, the clubs split into a top and bottom six after 33 rounds of matches, with 38 rounds played altogether.

That format has been in place since 2000-01 and retaining that model is also an option, but reports have also suggested the split could be scrapped.

For any fresh structure to pass, it needs the backing of 11 of the 12 Premiership clubs, and eight out of 10 from the Championship plus 75% of League One and League Two combined.

And judging by the fan reaction to the mere thought of reducing the league to a 10-team division, you would have to assume that idea is already unlikely.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, former Premiership players Cammy Bell and Cillian Sheridan provided their views on a potential restructure.

Expansion is the only option for former Rangers and Kilmarnock goalkeeper Bell, while ex-Celtic striker Sheridan would like to see the split retained.

"I think we need a little bit of freshness about our game," Bell said. "So, if we can expand that league, then absolutely do it. We've got big enough clubs now that can generate good crowds.

"We're at a time just now where we've got the potential of trying to change it and certainly for me it's got to be expansion."

"The split works now," Sheridan added. "When I first came over and saw the whole split thing, I just never really got it. But in the past few years it has been quite interesting.

"If the league is wrapped up, if relegation is wrapped up, it does add a little bit of excitement to things in terms of teams getting into the top six and having to get European football."