Zemlik’s first yellow came just after the hour mark when he went down after a Kevin Ruktiewicz challenge, while his second was supposedly for elbowing home defender Andy Lawrie.

Having studied video evidence of both incidents, Dens boss Alex Rae has admitted he is mystified as to what his player did wrong.

“Jan was booked for diving when he was actually fouled and we could see that from the dugout. I think the problem for the referee was that he was on the other side and could not see the foul — he might not have been able to give it, but he was not in a position to say Jan dived either,” said Alex.

“As for his second card, he simply did nothing wrong, so there is no way he’ll be getting fined by me. I don’t understand the decision and I can’t even work out why, if the referee thinks he has elbowed someone, he only shows him yellow when he’s already given a straight red to a St Johnstone player (Martin Hardie) for the same offence.”

With Zemlik going off for two bookings, Dundee have no right of appeal and that means he definitely misses this weekend’s home clash with Partick Thistle.

That’s a blow, though the manager was still smiling today after another weekend he felt had more positives than negatives.

“I thought Saturday was a game we can take a lot of confidence from. We had the chances and most of the play and it is a result we can build on.

“I was also delighted for Freddie Daquin, who showed how important for us he can be. He was a bit behind the rest when he arrived here, but he is catching up on fitness and that was his best game so far.”

Alex again reserved his biggest praise for the travelling support that made up getting on for half the 6000 crowd.

“The fans were brilliant and, even when we were down, they stayed right behind us. When you go away and your support is bigger than the home team and is making more noise it really does give the players a big lift.

“At times on Saturday it felt like a home game and that has to be a big help.”

Today, however, Craig went out of his way to highlight what he thought was a near perfect performance from experienced whistler McCurry.

“My goalie was superb and I don’t want to take anything away from his performance, but I really did think the referee was the best man on the park,” he said.

“I can’t remember the last time I was involved in a competitive game when there were no bookings, but it happened here on Saturday and that was a sign of the way the ref. did his job, and I think that deserves to be highlighted.”

So, too, was the work of Grzegorz Szamotulski in the home goal and, while United might easily have taken all three points, they had the Polish international to thank for making sure they got one.

He was only signed on a six-month contract after fellow-countryman Lukasz Zaluska broke his foot during the pre-season and, while Szamotulski has previously indicated his long-term future lies on the continent, his form so far is likely to lead to an attempt to persuade him to stay here longer.

Between now and the transfer window closing at the end of the month, however, all signing efforts will be focused on bringing in a new striker.

“Szamotulski is fixed up until the end of the year, so, right now, I am concentrating on getting someone for the attack. I have made some progress with that, but, right now, there is nothing to report.”

Fears wide man Craig Conway might have broken his foot for the second time this year have been allayed by a scan, but, in a precautionary move, he will see the specialist who treated his broken metatarsal last season.

While it looks to be good news for Conway, he could still be struggling to make the trip to Inverness CT on Saturday. It also is not clear who will be picking the home side in that one. Reports today have ICT boss Charlie Christie standing down.