Relegation rivals Dundee and St Johnstone had to settle for a share of the spoils in a close 1-1 draw at Dens.

Makenzie Kirk opened the scoring for Saints with Simon Murray responding for the home side before the break.

The hosts came closest to finding a winner in the second half with Scott Tiffoney hitting the woodwork.

The result leaves Saints still bottom of the Premiership table with Dundee three points ahead in 11th.

The hosts made three changes to the team that lost to Motherwell at Fir Park in midweek with goalkeeper Trevor Carson replacing Jon McCracken between the sticks, Cesar Garza coming in for Tiffoney and club captain Joe Shaughnessy making his first start since suffering a serious knee injury in April last year at the expense of Ryan Astley.

The visitors made one tweak to the side that beat Ross County in midweek with Barry Douglas being drafted in for Jonathan Svedberg.

Carson was called into action in the 23rd minute when he had to look lively to turn away a whipped-in corner from Stephen Duke-McKenna.

St Johnstone then created the best opportunity of the game so far when Drey Wright galloped down the left before cutting the ball back to Adama Sidibeh but the striker completely fluffed his lines and made a hash of the shot.

However, it was Saints who finally broke the deadlock in the 40th minute. A well-worked move was finished off with Sam Curtis delivering an inch-perfect cross towards Kirk who sent a looping header into the net.

That lead only lasted three minutes with Dundee producing a quickfire equaliser. A long Aaron Donnelly throw from the left was flicked on by Shaughnessy with Murray lurking at the back post to nod home from close range past Saints keeper Andy Fisher for his 17th goal of the season.

After that scoring burst, normal service was resumed after the break with a lack of goalmouth action.

Dundee finally had a great chance to take the lead when Fisher picked up a back pass. An indirect free-kick was awarded 10 yards out with Lyall Cameron playing the ball back to Murray but his shot was blocked.

The Dark Blues came agonisingly close to going in front in the 83rd minute when Tiffoney hit a great curling shot but it cannoned off the post.

Deep in stoppage time, Fisher came to the rescue for Saints, tipping a Cameron shot over his crossbar to ensure the game ended even.