Dundee and Kilmarnock went in level at half time after an entertaining opening period at Dens Park during which Juan Sara levelled Craig Dargo's fourth minute opener for the visitors.

Needing maximum points from their next three fixtures to retain any realistic chance of achieving a top six berth, Dundee were hit with a hammer blow after just four minutes of their clash with Kilmarnock at Dens Park.

The move began when new-signing Jesus Sanjuan put through a precise pass into the path of striker Craig Dargo, who had managed to sprint away the stationary home defence.

The former Scotland under-21 striker showed the necessary composure to tuck the ball low under Marco Roccati in the fourth minute.

Just a minute later, Dargo was in on the act again, but after fastening onto a neat assist by Garry Hay, he was eventually denied by the footwork of Roccati.

The Dark Blues seemed rather hesitant and slack in the opening period, and this was encapsulated when Juan Sara fired over the crossbar in panic, immediately undoing Claudio Caniggia's good work, as the Ayrshire side continued to set the pace.

The extravagant skills of Caniggia were beginning to be a thorn in the side of the Kilmarnock defence, and unfortunately for Chris Innes he was cautioned for upending the Argentinian as the home side began to pick up more fluency.

Their reward came perhaps earlier than their fans had perhaps anticipated, when, after 27 minutes they conjured up a well-taken equaliser.

From an eye-catching pass by Carranza, the Kilmarnock defence was caught square but first to react was Sara.

The Argentinian striker calmly took the ball round Meldrum before rolling it into the empty net to rejuvenate Dundee.

As Dundee grew in confidence, their collection of exotic names began to exercise a growing influence, and in the 35th minute Marcello Marrocco drove an excellent left foot shot across the face of the goal.

Kilmarnock did have their chances too, though, when in the space of two minutes both strikers Dargo and Ali McCoist were negligent with their finishing.

But Dundee's response with just a minute before the break, really should have seen them go in front, but Caniggia could only drill his shot against Meldrum after a quality pass by Giorgi Nemsadze.