Ten-man St Mirren held on for a precious Premiership point in Paisley after a turgid goalless Scottish Premiership draw against Dundee.

The major flash point in the match came just after the hour when new English forward Jake Young blighted his first start for the hosts with a straight red card for a challenge on full-back Brad Halliday.

The visitors couldn't make their numerical superiority count, however, while their goalkeeper Jon McCracken wasn't overly tested at the other end with the league's two lowest scorers mustering just four shots on target between them.

It means the visitors stay three points above Stephen Robinson's men, but 11th-placed Kilmarnock are now just three behind Saints.

Cameron Congreve ought to have given Dundee an early lead when keeper Shamal George dropped the ball at his feet yards from goal.

Perhaps the unexpected nature of the chance bamboozled the winger as he bundled past with the goal gaping.

The lack of a quality finish wasn't exclusive to the men in dark blue, however, as St Mirren defender Richard King fluffed his lines as the ball landed at his feet from close range.

St Mirren are still waiting for their first league win since before Christmas and nearly got it late on when Dan Nlundulu combined to set up fellow substitute Mikael Mandron who couldn't keep his near-post flick down.

The St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson wanted to freshen things up, given his side had not won a game in 90 minutes since before Christmas.

There were a couple of first starts - for new forwards Young and Kion Etete - and a move to a 3-4-3 formation.

It didn't really work and the afternoon simply got more difficult and frustrating for the home fans with the former's sending off.

Dundee have been on a good recent run of late, having only lost to the top two in the division in their past half dozen matches, winning all the rest.

This then, against 10 men for an hour, goes down as an opportunity missed to establish a six-point comfort zone to the bottom three.

A point on the road is rarely a bad thing but Dundee may feel that their play, at least until the final third of the pitch, possibly merited more.

Dundee head coach Steven Pressley tells BBC Scotland: "Kind of similar to last week where we had a lot of possession and got into good positions in the final third but couldn't find the breakthrough.

"It's an area we need to improve, but I think we've come a long way. It's a good point.

"Them going down to 10 men, you hope you take the impetus and go win it, but they are also fighting for their lives right now."

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland: "Another game unbeaten, that's three now, so we have to take the positives.

"Game was a bit scrappy, but we had the best chances."

There's another huge match in prospect for St Mirren on Tuesday evening as they welcome league leaders Hearts (20:00 GMT).

Dundee have to wait an extra 24 hours for their next fixture, with high-flying Motherwell the visitors to Dens Park on Wednesday (19:45).