Dundee and Hibernian played out a sterile first half at Dens Park

The home side included Argentinean striker Claudio Caniggia as they sought to end their dismal run against Hibs so far this season.

Meanwhile, Hibernian, looking towards an appearance at Hampden Park in the Tennent's Scottish Cup final, freshened up their ranks with returns for Grant Brebner, Dirk Lehmann and Marc Libbra, but it took until 15 minutes for either side to threaten.

From a right-side corner Dundee centre-back Steven Tweed powered a six-yard header goalwards, only for the ball to be cleared off the line by Stuart Lovell.

One of the more interesting features of Hibs' boss Alex McLeish's team selection was his experiment with a back three and throughout much of the first half they had little difficulty in containing the twin talents of Caniggia and Caballero.

In the 24th minute the visitors should have done better when awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area, only for David Zitelli to misfire over the crossbar.

Chances were at a premium and Dundee went close again in the 33rd minute when Caniggia forced his way through the Hibs defence but his final shot went just wide.

Towards the end of the half, both teams were managing to create some chances and the highlight of the action was in the 37th minute when Scotland Under-21 goalkeeper Jamie Langfield twisted to turn away Libbra's header after the Frenchman met a Lovell cross.

But the sides could not be separated after an unfulfilling 45 minutes.