After clouds had gathered around the club all week, it was perhaps fitting Celtic had to overcome a second-half snowstorm to secure Kenny Dalglish a much-needed victory at Dundee.

Dalglish, reluctantly back in management on a temporary basis after John Barnes' dismissal, saw his men make heavy weather of overwhelming the home side before the break at Dens Park.

But as conditions worsened after the interval, Celtic, who have endured a miserable time of late, suddenly improved and finally made their class tell with a convincing display.

It was 66 minutes before the deadlock was broken, Johan Mjallby claiming the goal ahead of Alan Stubbs in a crowded penalty area, but once in command, Celtic stayed there.

There was none of the faltering nervy play which saw Celtic throw away a two-goal advantage at home to Hearts last week as they demonstrated the kind of resolve which has been sorely absent.

With Dalglish prompting from the dug-out, Celtic turned on the style with one of the players at the centre of events in midweek, Mark Viduka, claiming a second with an individual strike.

A third Celtic goal, to make for an emphatic success, was scored with seven minutes remaining by substitute Colin Healy, his first for the club, to brighten Dalglish's mood after a turbulent week.

Dalglish wasted no time in placing his imprint on the Celtic team with six changes from the side whose humiliating 3-1 Scottish Cup loss to Inverness brought about Barnes' sacking.

Scottish record signing Eyal Berkovic was demoted to the bench, while Scotland keeper Jonathan Gould, who had clashed with the Israeli at half-time on Tuesday night, was dropped entirely.

However Viduka, who refused to play the second half against Inverness after a dressing-room bust-up with now deposed assistant head coach Eric Black, did start the contest. Dmitri Kharine was in goal for Celtic, who had Jackie McNamara, Alan Stubbs and Morten Wieghorst back from injury, while Ian Wright earned a rare start in attack.

There was an increased urgency about Celtic's play from the outset, yet Dundee were the first to threaten as Steven Boyack played in Willie Falconer for a close-range effort wide.

Boyack then released youngster Graham Bayne for a deflected shot wide as Dundee refused to be bit-part players on a day which inevitably was being viewed as all about Celtic.

A neat Wright lay-off set Wieghorst clear on the left after 12 minutes but the Dane failed to spot Viduka's run in the centre. After 24 minutes, a Boyack free-kick was only half-cleared by the Celtic backline, but Hugh Robertson's half-volley from the edge of the area drifted well wide of the mark.

On the half-hour Celtic came the closest to breaking the deadlock when a speculative Stephane Mahe shot needed pushing away to safety by a scrambling Robert Douglas.

A Wright burst six minutes before half-time set up Lubomir Moravcik for an angled drive which the Slovakian sent just over, but chances were at a premium for both teams.

The second half kicked-off with a flurry of snow, but there was a change in Celtic as well as they at once showed much more purpose in front of goal. After 49 minutes, a Mahe free-kick was spilled by Douglas in the Dundee goal, but centre-half Steven Tweed's brave block prevented McNamara from netting from the rebound.

A Mahe shot against Barry Smith then earned Celtic a corner on the left taken by Moravcik from which Douglas lost his bearings, but somehow the ball eluded Wright's leap.

The worsening blizzard-like conditions forced an orange ball into play on the hour, but Celtic still did more with it than their hosts.

After 65 minutes, Wieghorst flicked a header over from another Moravcik corner, then Wright saw a deflected, looping effort tipped over the bar by Douglas.

Moments later, Moravcik's cross from the left was helped on by Mahe and the ball was bundled in at close range, Mjallby disputing the final touch with Stubbs.

A mere four minutes later and Celtic had doubled their advantage, Viduka cutting inside with pace before drilling a fierce 20-yard shot beyond Douglas to set up a hard-earned win.

A weaving Moravcik run almost ended up with a Celtic third only for Douglas to save, then substitute Mark Burchill sprinted through only to sidefoot the ball wide. With seven minutes remaining, Celtic were 3-0 up, however, when after another Burchill burst was halted by Douglas, another sub Healy showed impressive composure to lob into an empty net.

Celtic's problems were never going to be solved in 90 minutes, but Dalglish will be a more relaxed figure tonight after closing Rangers' Scottish Premier League lead to seven points.

Teams:

Dundee: Douglas, Smith, Tweed, Wilkie, Ireland, Boyack, Rae, Robertson (Annand 85), McSkimming (Grady 73), Falconer, Bayne (Sharp 85).

Subs Not Used: Langfield, Van Eijs.

Booked: Smith.

Celtic: Kharine, McNamara (Tebily 72), Stubbs, Boyd, Mahe, Wieghorst, Riseth, Mjallby, Moravcik (Healy 81), Wright (Burchill 72), Viduka.

Subs Not Used: Kerr, Berkovic.

Booked: McNamara.

Goals: Mjallby 67, Viduka 69, Healy 82.

Att: 10,044

Ref: Bobby Orr (Scotland).