Dundee safe as 14-goal Rangers-bound man impresses - Ross County now have daunting task

Dundee manager Tony Docherty thanked Rangers-bound Lyall Cameron for a stellar career at Dens Park after the midfielder signed off in style with a double in victory over St Johnstone.

Cameron, who penned a pre-contract with Rangers in February, inspired a 2-0 win that eased the Dark Blues away from the relegation play-off place. The 22-year-old netted after 28 minutes and rounded off a man-of-the-match display with a stoppage-time penalty.

Cameron’s dream farewell took him to 14 goals for the season and ensured Dundee finished in 10th place, four points above Ross County, and Docherty said: “I have a good relationship with all my players but a really special relationship with Lyall.

Lyall Cameron scored twice for Dundee as they took down St Johnstone in Perth. | SNS Group

“His character has never been in doubt. I am delightful for him that he can leave with his head held high. In these last three games, he’s scored four goals and provided the assist to Scott Tiffoney’s goal in midweek that should’ve been enough. He’s been a fantastic ambassador for this club. A brilliant character.

“He will go on to have a really successful career but I think the club are indebted to him and I’d like thank him for his services. It was really fitting that he scored the two goals to achieve this objective.”

Dundee picked themselves up from conceding a controversial last-gasp penalty to Ross County on Wednesday which had given the Staggies a chance of catching them on the final day.

Pride for Dundee boss

Docherty said: “I’m really proud. I thought the club showed its strength. When I can communicate to the players before kick off that there’s 4000 fans here, that’s huge. That was an exhibition of fans galvanising and showing that their team was done wrong to in midweek.

“We showed the mentality and resilience to bounce back. I can’t speak highly enough of my group, there’s been a lot of adversity this year. One thing that’s been consistent has been reaction to any adversity. I knew we’d get that from them. There are strong characters and real leaders in there.”

St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari watched jubilant Dundee fans invade the pitch to celebrate their survival. Then he told his relegated players it’s essential Saints supporters experience scenes of joy after a Championship title triumph this time next season.

Valakari ready for St Johnstone rebuild

He said: “One disappointing thing was that we could not say ‘thank you’ to our fans. The fans have been there for us every game, pushing us, supporting us, feeling the frustration and pain. I’ll put it this way. It’s my job, our job, to make sure that it is our fans who are running on the field at the end of next season.

“Our players got out of there, no problem. It was big for Dundee to stay in the Premiership. Congratulations to Dundee.”

Ross County are the unfortunate team to be in the play-off after their 1-1 draw with Motherwell in Dingwall - although victory would have been redundant in any case due to Dundee’s triumph in Perth.

Manager Don Cowie must rouse his players for their two-legged tie with Livingston - starting on Thursday night when they visit West Lothian.

Don Cowie's Ross County side are in the play-offs. | SNS Group

The Staggies took the lead through a Ronan Hale goal on the half-hour mark, but Motherwell improved drastically in the second half and dominated the game in Dingwall. That pressure eventually told, with Moses Ebiye heading in an equaliser with seven minutes remaining to ensure the season did not end in defeat.

Cowie said: “We find ourselves in the play-offs not because of today,” Cowie said. “It was on the previous two months of results that haven’t been good enough.

“The disappointing thing from today was that I thought the first half was as good as we’ve been. We were good on Wednesday night, but today was the next level.

“We got the goal we deserved through Ronan, which was a real positive, but in the second half we didn’t do enough to win the game of football and we were probably a bit fortunate to come away with a draw in the end.”