A lacklustre Dundee display saw Neil McCann’s unbeaten run as interim manager come to an end as Inverness gave their survival bid a shot in the arm with a 2-0 win at Dens Park.
Two goals within the opening 10 minutes from Billy Mckay and Alex Fisher were enough for the Highlanders to take the three points.
There was just the one change from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Ross County as Tom Hateley failed to recover from a knock and Nick Ross replaced the Englishman.
With the Dark Blues’ safety already assured thanks to Hamilton’s defeat on Tuesday night, the pressure was off and that was obvious in what was a poor performance. The opposite could be said for the visitors with that Accies result giving Caley a glimmer of hope of survival.
In the opening minute, Scott Bain almost gifted Inverness the lead as he dallied on the ball and Mckay blocked his attempted clearance only to see the ball fly wide of the post.
That warning wasn’t heeded, however, and Mckay swept his side into the lead after just two minutes, slotting past Bain from 12 yards.
Dundee hadn’t woken up yet and they were quickly even further behind after some more slack defending. Alex Fisher was free on the edge of the area in the middle of goal and volleyed in a fine effort on the turn to give his side a massive lifeline after just 10 minutes.
Going forward the home side were looking dangerous and Darren O’Dea should have scored on 19 minutes as he met Kevin Holt’s corner four yards out but headed over.
The Dark Blues were creating chances and Cammy Kerr found himself behind the defence on an angle but, under pressure, blasted his effort wide.
At the back, though, every forward ball from an Inverness player was causing the Dundee defence problems and they could have been further ahead with Fisher putting a header wide on 31 minutes.
On 40 minutes, the home side put together their best move of the game and Marcus Haber should have scored. Faissal El Bakhtaoui found the run of Ross, who played in Haber with a lovely backflick but the Canadian’s effort was well blocked by the onrushing Ryan Esson in the Caley goal.
The second half started in subdued fashion with the first effort of note coming six minutes after the restart as Haber rose to head over the crossbar. That would be the frontman’s final contribution, however, as he was replaced by Henrik Ojamaa after 54 minutes.
On the hour mark, Mark O’Hara had a decent chance, meeting El Bakhtaoui’s cross on the penalty spot but placed his header straight at Esson.
As the match wore on, Inverness were more than happy to hold what they had and the game meandered along without much action in either goalmouth.
After 77 minutes, Caley looked to put the seal on the victory as Brad McKay rose to meet a corner but planted his header straight at Bain.
The final 10 minutes saw the Dark Blues try in vain to plot a way through Caley’s blanket defence as the visitors fought for their Premiership lives.
In the final minute, substitute Craig Wighton came closest only to see his shot from eight yards blocked and in the end there was no way through for Dundee, bringing a close to the season’s action at Dens Park in disappointing fashion.
Dundee: Bain, Holt, Vincent, O’Dea, O’Hara, Ross, McGowan, El Bakhtaoui (Wighton 71), Haber (Ojamaa 54), Kerr, Gomis (Higgins 46).
Inverness: Esson, Raven, Warren, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (McCart 88), Mckay (Anier 65), Tansey, Fisher (McNaughton 84), Laing, McKay.
Attendance: 5,574
