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St Johnstone sealed their place in the Scottish Premiership's top six with a Tayside derby defeat of Dundee.

Brian Graham's first-half strike proved to be the winner at McDiarmid Park as the Perth team remain only a point behind fourth-place Dundee United.

David Clarkson's volley from Paul McGowan's cross clattered back off a post as Dundee threatened a leveller.

And although the Dens Park side lost, they are all but assured a top-half finish.

Kilmarnock still have an outside chance of denying them but would need to win both of their games in hand and hope Dundee lose heavily to Celtic on 22 April.

The Ayrshire side, who host Aberdeen on Sunday before visiting Celtic on Wednesday, would also require a significant turnaround in goal difference with Dundee's currently eight goals better on plus one.

St Johnstone's performance typified their impressive recovery from the last summer's loss of Stevie May, who netted 27 times in the previous campaign.

Goals have inevitably been in shorter supply this season and their ability to grind out results has been crucial.

They have the third best defensive record in the top flight and Dundee found the Saints defence difficult to break down after Graham made the breakthrough.

Dundee midfielder Simon Ferry's pass was intercepted by Michael O'Halloran and, when he found on-loan Dundee United forward Graham, the 27-year-old curled a right-foot shot round Dundee keeper Scott Bain and into the right-hand corner.

Dundee's midweek derby win, their first defeat of Dundee United in more than a decade, looked to have been achieved at a cost.

They were without James McPake and Kevin Thomson and even those who did start looked as if their efforts at Dens Park had depleted their energy levels.

A bumpy playing surface did not help them either and yet the match could have been all square by half-time as Clarkson volleyed against the frame of the goal.

The closest Dundee got to an equaliser in the second half was a deflected cross from Paul McGinn, which had to be clawed out from under the crossbar by Alan Mannus.

It was a disappointing day for the best part of 3,000 Dundee supporters inside McDiarmid Park but they can be well satisfied with their team's first season back in Scottish football's top tier.