Dundee manager James McPake hailed his players for their “attitude and desire” after following up a 5-0 loss to Ross County by winning at St Mirren

Max Anderson scored the only goal of the game to help the Dark Blues record their first away league victory of the campaign.

McPake said the midweek defeat to Ross County would not be forgotten but felt that this battling performance was more indicative of his Dundee team.

He said: “It’s just one performance and one win but off the back of the other night it was a massive display. That’s what got the result – the attitude and desire.

“Charlie Adam had said the players needed to do the hard yards and they did that today. I’m so happy for them and they deserved their win.

“We can say it’s for the fans but this is for the players because they’ve hurt as much as anyone. They had to play on Wednesday then turn up and put on a performance like that.

“That is a truer reflection of us but we’ll use Wednesday, that won’t go away. We won’t let it go away and we’ll use it. It’s happened too much for our liking. But that can happen in this league when you drop your level.”

McPake also confirmed he expects to lose Cillian Sheridan for a lengthy period after the Irishman was carried off on a stretcher in the second half.

He added: “He will go for a scan but it looked like a ruptured Achilles. It’s a sore one for him and the club because he was starting to look a threat.”

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin admitted his team had been below their best as they lost at home for the second time in a week.

He said: “It was a frustrating afternoon. We probably had more possession and shots on target. All the stats line up in our favour but the one that matters is the scoreline.

“We knew the first goal in a game like this would be massive and if Dundee got it they’d shut up shop. They ran the clock down from the moment they got the goal.

“One or two of our players were a little below par. Maybe because it’s the third game in seven days, without looking for excuses. But we didn’t reach the levels we did against Motherwell or the opening 25 minutes against Rangers.”