Ashley Hay scores for Dundee against LivingstonImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Ashley Hay put the gloss on Dundee's win

At a glance

  • Dundee win to ensure Scottish Premiership place next season

  • Congreve and substitutes Robertson & Hay on target

  • Relegated Livingston have penalty saved, Muirhead denied

ByAndy Campbell
BBC Scotland

Dundee made sure of their Scottish Premiership status for next season with a convincing win against relegated Livingston.

Steven Pressley's hosts were already well-placed to avoid the relegation play-off place and now have a sufficient cushion of nine points over second-bottom St Mirren with two games left.

Cameron Congreve was alert after Simon Murray's header was helped on by Joe Westley's foot, the attacker finishing from close range.

And Congreve set up substitute Finlay Robertson on 71 minutes.

Livi - led by interim boss Scott Arfield for the first time - had a chance to reduce the deficit when Ethan Hamilton fouled Lewis Smith in the box.

But Robbie Muirhead's penalty was saved by Kieran O'Hara, who had also denied Dylan Tait in the first half.

Another substitute, Ashley Hay, nodded in Robertson's cross for 3-0 late on.

A picture of Cameron Congreve next to a graphic of his heat map in Dundee's win over LivingstonImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Cameron Congreve was one of Dundee's main attacking outlets

Analysis: Dundee can start planning as Arfield chooses dugout view

Dundee's mission in recent weeks was clear - keep away from the bottom two.

That was aided by last weekend's victory over St Mirren and the Dark Blues' first back-to-back wins since the festive period have taken them over the line.

Now, Pressley can properly start planning for next season and can also take encouragement from the performance of stand-in goalkeeper O'Hara, who stepped in for Jon McCracken.

Pressley has decisions to make with six of his squad on loan, including the influential Congreve and Yan Dhanda.

Arfield had distanced himself from the Livingston job in the build up to his first game in charge but also suggested three wins from three may make him reconsider.

He chose not to select himself at Dens Park and went with an experienced line-up of players often used by predecessors David Martindale and Marvin Bartley.

Barring a couple of half-chances and the spot-kick, the visitors struggled to create openings in a similar manner to most of their campaign so far.

Arfield is keen to keep playing and his intelligence in attack is one of the ingredients they will need to bounce straight back from the Championship next term.

What the managers said

Dundee manager Steven Pressley: "At times, it's been very difficult this season, especially in the early stages. There was a lot of doubt. There was a lot of difficult moments. There was a lot of soul searching.

"To keep going, to keep fighting away, I couldn't be prouder of the group. There was some bleak times in December and it takes a lot to keep going and this group just kept finding a way, kept taking those small steps forward and eventually came through. We've proved some people wrong."

Livingston interim manager Scott Arfield: "I don't think that game was ever a 3-0 game. Not a chance. In possession, we were excellent at times. We just need to reward ourselves in big moments.

"We had large in-play possession without really, really going after them and then the times that we do, probably symbolic of the full season this season where the pass or the cross or the shot's just not accurate enough to cause real, real problems."

What's next for these clubs?

Dundee are away to Kilmarnock on Tuesday (19:45 BST), when Livingston play their penultimate Premiership fixture before relegation away to Dundee United.

Player of the match

Number: 20 C. Congreve
Average rating 9.23
Number: 20 C. Congreve
Average Rating: 9.23
Number: 13 K. O'Hara
Average Rating: 8.52
Number: 10 F. Robertson
Average Rating: 8.40
Number: 11 A. Hay
Average Rating: 8.21
Number: 22 L. Graham
Average Rating: 8.10
Number: 16 B. Halliday
Average Rating: 7.83
Number: 48 E. Hamilton
Average Rating: 7.83
Number: 19 J. Westley
Average Rating: 7.78
Number: 25 S. Wright
Average Rating: 7.69
Number: 7 D. Wright
Average Rating: 7.67
Number: 4 R. Astley
Average Rating: 7.59
Number: 21 Y. Dhanda
Average Rating: 7.57
Number: 17 T. Yogane
Average Rating: 7.42
Number: 15 S. Murray
Average Rating: 7.29
Number: 5 B. Koumetio
Average Rating: 7.27
Number: 12 I. Samuels
Average Rating: 6.87

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.