Steven Milne's fifth goal in seven games sent Dundee on their way to a comfortable 2-0 win over Kilmarnock at Dens Park.

There were only five minutes gone when the in-form striker, who has missed much of the season with injury, linked up well with Nacho Novo before hammering a shot into the roof of the net.

The visitors however gradually worked their way back into the game and had Kris Boyd headed home a sitter, the would have been level at the break.

But the game never really caught fire in the second half and a Novo strike with only 10 minutes left was enough to clinch all three points for the home side.

The first attempt on goal came as early as the second minute but Killie's on-loan midfielder Erik Skora's snap-shot from 25 yards went high and wide, watched by unconcerned Dundee keeper Julian Speroni.

But in the fifth minute it was the home side who took the lead with their first real attack on the visitors goal.

Milne picked the ball up from Novo and then played a one-two with the Spaniard and when the ball came back to the Dens striker 16 yards out, he fired a left-foot shot past the despairing Colin Meldrum.

In the 12th minute Killie defender James Fowler was booked for a foul on Novo 25 yards from goal and from the resultant free-kick, Garry Brady sent a shot inches wide.

Kilmarnock's tricky wide man Stephen Murray began to get on the ball more for the visitors but even his inventiveness could not find a chink in the Dees defence.

As the first half unfolded Dundee were looking to the electric pace of Novo on the break as their main threat but the game in general had lost much of its impetus.

Consequently, the next real chance of the game did not arrive until the 35th minute and it should have resulted in an equaliser for the visitors.

Murray, growing in confidence by the minute, skinned Dees defender Dave Mackay on the left touchline and his perfectly floated cross found Boyd unmarked only six yards out but somehow the Killie striker headed past the post.

The visitors were on top now but were lacking a cutting edge and a low drive by midfielder Rhian Dodds from 25 yards just before the break went wide of the post.

Dundee were barely posing any threat to the Killie goal in the second half and the visitors too struggled to create chances.

In the 58th minute there seemed a glimmer of hope that the home side could double their lead when Novo set up Smith with a cut-back inside the box but the Dees midfielder scooped a half-hearted shot over the bar.

The best chance of the second half, involving the same two players, came in the 65th minute when Novo and Smith worked a lovely one-two at the edge of the box leaving the Spaniard clean through on goal but Meldrum was quickly out of his goal.

There was little between the sides as the game entered its closing stages.

In the 80th minute however, the home side doubled their lead with a goal out of the blue.

A long hopeful Smith pass from inside his own half sent Novo racing with Killie defender Freddy Dindeleux.

The Dees striker outpaced the Frenchman then brilliantly slotted the ball across Meldrum and into the corner of the net from 18 yards.

Teams

Dundee Speroni, Mackay, Sancho, Mair, Hernandez Santos (Jablonski 34), McDonald, Smith (Linn 84), Brady, Cameron (Fotheringham 79), Milne, Novo.

Subs Not Used: Soutar, Hegarty.

Goals: Milne 6, Novo 80.

Kilmarnock Meldrum, Fowler, Canning, Dindeleux, Hay, Invincibile, Skora, Dodds (Locke 54), Murray, Boyd, McSwegan (McDonald 59).

Subs Not Used: Smith, Dillon, Naysmith.

Booked: Fowler, Boyd.

Att: 4,942

Ref: S Conroy (Scotland).