Carl Finnigan’s late strike keeps Dundee alive

DUNDEE striker Carl Finnigan put 11 months of injury behind him with the winner against St Mirren yesterday – and hopes it will be enough to earn him a new deal.

St Mirren 1-2 Dundee

Scorers: St Mirren - Thompson (52); Dundee - McAlister (40), Finnigan (81)

Referee: C Thomson

Attendance: 4,002

The Englishman’s contract is up at the end of the season and he has just four games of the SPL season remaining to prove himself to interim Dee boss John Brown. But the 26-year-old – who had to have two career-saving operations to repair damaged knee cartilage – boosted his prospects by netting the late winner against Saints and keep alive Dundee’s slim survival hopes for another week.

He said: “The closest I’ve come to scoring in the last year has been in my dreams. I thought I’d never get back on the pitch after the injury but I’m delighted to have made an impact. My deal is up at the end of the season and I’ve been panicking all year because I’ve not been playing.”

The Dark Blues travelled to Renfrewshire knowing anything short of a win would relegate them from the top flight after just one season, but they have closed the gap on Saints to ten points with four games to go.

Jim McAlister put Dundee ahead five minutes before the break but Steven Thompson levelled seven minutes into the second period when he thudded home a header at the back post. But, after losing skipper Jim Goodwin following two needless bookings, Saints found it harder to repel their desperate visitors, who struck eight minutes before the end through Finnigan.

However, St Mirren still hold the balance of power and could relegate Dundee next week should they beat Hibernian away although Finnigan hasn’t given up hope.

“On current form, we deserve to be in this league as much as anyone else. It’s just unfortunate that things haven’t gone our way over the season,” he explained.

St Mirren midfielder Gary Teale, meanwhile, insists the Paisley side are not overly worried by Dundee’s late charge.

He told Press Association Sport: “We have got to make sure we look after ourselves but coming here and winning will obviously give Dundee a lift.

“But we are still ten points ahead with four games to go.

“It would have been good to put the whole relegation aspect to bed, so it’s disappointing that Dundee are still lingering behind us. The table doesn’t lie. We think we are in a false position but we are where we are and we need to deal with it.”