In the end, they paid the price when defender Ryan Inniss gave away a needless penalty with a foul on Elliot Frear, with David Turnbull firing Stephen Robinson's side 14 points clear of the dropzone from the spot.

It was Motherwell's fifth straight victory at Dens and left Deacon feeling like he had seen it all before.

"It's a bitter one to take, although to be fair it's happened quite a few times against Motherwell," he told Press Association Sport.

"We've battered them, created a few chances but been unable to take them and they then punish us when we make a mistake.

"You could say they are a bit of a bogey team for us.

"There is encouragement to take from the game though. We created a lot of chances – we just couldn't take them.

"But hopefully that will come. We're growing as a team, the new players are integrating well and giving us a bit of a spark.

"As a team, we know what we need to do and things are coming together. It definitely feels like it's only a matter of time before we go on a good run and climb up that table."

Robinson's side have bounced back from their shock Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Queen of the South with victories over Hibernian and now Dundee.

Combined with their Lanarkshire derby win over Hamilton just before New Year, it is three wins in a row for the Steelmen and their boss said: "Our last three performances show what we're capable of. Take away the anomaly of the cup result, which was a disappointment, but we're trying to build things.

"We're trying to bring young players into the team and change a little bit of what we do.

"But we showed against Dundee that we can still stand up to people. We can still be defensively well-organised. That's the key.

"We can't affect what anyone is doing above us in the table, we can't affect what those beneath us are doing.

"We just have to concentrate on building ourselves and move the club forward."

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