Dundee defeat 'painful' as St Mirren target top six after last-minute winner

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson felt his team had given themselves a great chance of making the top six after the cinch Premiership split following a last-gasp 1-0 victory at Dundee.

St Mirren players celebrate Connor Ronan's injury-time winner against Dundee at Dens Park.

Connor Ronan's header moved the Paisley side to within a point of fourth-placed Hibernian and gave Robinson his first win since succeeding Jim Goodwin as manager last month.

The former Motherwell boss said: "We're right in the mix for the top six again.

"I thought we were excellent throughout the second half. It was a great cross from young Hendo (Jay Henderson) and a brilliant header from Connor Ronan.

Dundee players are left dejected at full-time after conceding an injury-time goal in the 1-0 defeat to St Mirren.

"Overall I thought we deserved it. We had six clear-cut chances inside the box and didn't take any of them and you start to think it's going to be one of those nights.

"But it wasn't and that shows the character of the squad. It would have been cruel if we hadn't taken all three points.

"The biggest pleasing thing for me was not just the style we played but the patience we had, we didn't just try to launch it up the pitch.

"The league is very tight, it's small and fine margins.

"If we don't win tonight then there's a wee bit of pressure comes with it and it probably hurts our chances of top six.

"St Mirren haven't been in the top six for a long time but now we have given ourselves hope of being in there.

"We have Motherwell, Dundee United and Rangers before the split. It's certainly an opportunity and now it is up to us to take it."

Dundee boss Mark McGhee missed the game after testing positive for Covid-19 and his assistant Simon Rusk admitted it had been hugely deflating to concede so late in the contest.

He said: "Conceding that late is a painful one for everyone and it was preventable as well. I don't think we can have too much of a complaint about the result on the balance of the second half.

"The first half was even but they had more momentum in the second half and we struggled to turn it back the other way.

"We have to assess it and understand it in more depth. The fact is we were not at the level we needed to be in the second half. We have to stick together and work hard as a group.”

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