St Mirren held out to seal the win over Dundee in wet and wild conditions in Paisley after Calvin Ramsay and Eseosa Sule got on the scoresheet to help the Saints end a streak of five straight defeats.

Bradley Fink found the net for the away side, but the Buddies held on to secure a much-needed victory and manager Craig McLeish is hopeful this result can now provide some light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’m delighted for the group,” said McLeish. “They probably needed something like that.

“It’s easy for me to keep saying the same messages and keep talking to them about their confidence and belief and what we’re trying to do, but when you go on a run like we’ve been on, it can be difficult for the players at times.

“We had one really good run, we’ve had a poor run, hopefully that’s us coming out of it now as well.”

Steven Pressley admitted after the defeat he is disappointed his side didn’t give St Mirren more to think about in the final third.

The Dundee boss said: “In the first-half we showed a lot of bravery in possession, in terms of our build-up and in controlling the game, but we didn’t ask enough questions of them defensively.

“We spoke prior to the game about that particular fact that we must ask questions of them defensively in a variety of ways. We didn’t ask enough of them.”

Fink scored to give Dundee hopes of snatching something from the game, and they came agonisingly close in the last moment of the match when Ethan Hamilton’s attempt crashed back off the bar from close range.

The Dens Park boss revealed he thought from the sidelines his team had grabbed a late equaliser.

He said: “On another day, it hits the underside of the bar and does go in, but it wasn’t to be today. Credit to St Mirren. They’ve gone through a difficult period, and they showed a lot of resilience today.”

St Mirren will welcome Hibernian to the Marbill Coaches Stadium on Wednesday, while Dundee will face Kilmarnock at Dens Park.