Dundee suffered their fifth straight defeat as they lost narrowly to Motherwell at Fir Park.
The Dark Blues probably shaded the first half but the home side were on top in the second 45 and took all three points thanks to an absolutely stunning goal from David Turnbull.
For Dundee, there was plenty of honest endeavour on show and they did hit the woodwork but overall there was little threat up front.
However, all attention now turns to next Saturday and the crunch clash with fellow strugglers St Mirren at Dens.
Dundee boss Jim McIntyre made three changes to the team that was beaten 5-0 by Celtic in midweek with Andy Boyle, Calvin Miller and Sofien Moussa coming into the starting line-up for the injured Benjamin Kallman with Roarie Deacon and Ryan Inniss dropping to the bench.
New signing, midfielder Martin Woods, was also named as a sub.
The Dark Blues came agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the 11th minute when Miller swung a corner in from the left with Darren O’Dea rising highest but his header cannoned off the bar and Motherwell cleared.
Dundee then had two big penalty shouts when first Jesse Curran and then Kenny Miller went down in the home box but on both occasions, referee Don Robertson waved away appeals.
Motherwell came close deep into first-half stoppage time when Carl McHugh sent a low, long-range shot just wide of Jack Hamilton’s left-hand post.
The Steelmen had another great chance just three minutes after the restart when Curtis Main hit an angled drive with Boyle having to make a vital goal-line stop for Dundee.
The home side were making a much better fist of things and as the hour mark approached they were turning the screw with Bowman flashing a header just inches wide of the post.
In the 65th minute, Dundee were claiming once more for a penalty when Moussa went down in the Motherwell box but again Mr Robertson was not interested.
Bowman then had a superb opportunity when he was played in on goal but he shot too close to Hamilton who made a comfortable save.
However, the keeper had no chance as the Steelmen scored what proved to be the winner in the 69th minute with Turnbull hitting an unstoppable shot from 25 yards high past Hamilton and into the back of the net.
Deep in stoppage time, Dundee suffered another blow as Boyle had to be stretchered off.
