Late goals by Steven Whittaker and substitute Sam Morrow eventually sent wasteful Hibernian through to the Tennent's Scottish Cup fourth round at the expense of Dundee at Easter Road.

Hibs striker Garry O'Connor missed three clear-cut chances to put the home side ahead before defender Whittaker showed the way to goal in the 76th minute with a drive from just inside the box.

Then, with three minutes to go, Morrow, on earlier for Alen Orman, eased the nerves of the home fans with an angled drive to seal a well deserved victory.

The match had begun in hectic fashion and, in the ninth minute, Hibs should have taken the lead through O'Connor when he robbed Dees' defender Lee Wilkie at the edge of the Dundee penalty area.

His shot beat Dark Blues' goalkeeper Derek Soutar only to bounce off the upright and then the Dundee number one saved Derek Riordan's strike from the rebound before Dean Shiels eventually ballooned his shot over the bar.

At the other end, striker Fabian Caballero's low, angled drive from 20 yards sped past Hibs keeper Simon Brown's post.

But, in the 17th minute, O'Connor spurned an even easier chance when Riordan's pinpoint cross left the Easter Road striker with Soutar to beat from only eight yards out, but somehow the hesitant striker headed over.

It seemed only a matter of time until the home side got the breakthrough.

That almost arrived in the 31st minute when the tireless O'Connor found Riordan with an accurate cross from the right, but, this time, the Scotland Under-21 international's well-taken volley dipped just over the bar.

The visitors held on until the interval but, after the break, Hibs were on the offensive again and, within 60 seconds, O'Connor's shot from 18 yards was deflected wide by Dundee defender Calum MacDonald for a corner.

In the 50th minute though, it was the Taysiders who should have got their noses in front when a Wilkie head-flick found Steve Lovell six yards from goal.

But the former Portsmouth striker's header was weak, allowing Brown to gather easily.

Hibs ran back up the park almost immediately to create another chance but, again, O'Connor missed the opportunity.

The luckless hit-man beat Wilkie and McDonald 12 yards out to leave himself with a clear shot on goal, but was too deliberate with his effort, curling the ball wide of the post.

On the hour mark Tony Mowbray introduced striker Morrow for Orman to add firepower to his wasteful team.

And, seven minutes later, O'Connor was played in by a clever Morrow header, but, this time, his unconvincing shot from 12 yards was saved by Soutar.

But the breakthrough eventually arrived for the Edinburgh side 14 minutes from time courtesy of defender Whittaker.

The Hibs full-back drove forward from the halfway line, exchanged passes with substitute Jamie McCluskey, and curled a shot from just inside the box past Soutar and into the far corner of the net.

The relief around Easter Road was tangible now and, three minutes from the end, Morrow made sure of the win when he picked up a deflected Riordan shot and drove an angled shot from 14 yards past Soutar.

Teams

Hibernian Simon Brown, Whittaker, Caldwell, Smith, Murphy (McCluskey 52), Orman (Morrow 60), Shiels, Murray, Glass, O'Connor, Riordan, Morrow (Fletcher 88).

Subs Not Used: Alistair Brown, Shields.

Goals: Whittaker 76, Morrow 87.

Dundee Soutar, McDonald, Wilkie, Sancho, Robb, Smith, Fotheringham, Robertson (Larsen 71), Barrett (Sutton 80), Lovell, Caballero.

Subs Not Used: Jack, Mann, Hernandez Santos.

Booked: Sancho, Lovell.

Att: 9,706

Ref: I Brines (Scotland).