Kenny Miller believes Jim McIntyre is closing in on his first win as Dundee boss following the 1-1 Ladbrokes Premiership draw with fellow strugglers St Mirren on Saturday.

The visitors took the lead in the 21st minute from a Simeon Jackson penalty but Dark Blues’ skipper Miller drove in a deserved leveller in the 34th minute for his first goal for the Tayside club since he signed in August after a short spell as Livingston player/manager.

McIntyre is still looking for his first win after five matches in charge and Dundee are still at the bottom of the table, a point behind the Paisley side but Miller, 38, believes three points are coming soon.

He said: “If we play like that then absolutely.

“That’s the kind of performance we’ve been working for in the last few weeks. It’s the performance that the manager has been demanding in training.

“We’re hoping that we’re starting to see the benefits of the work we’ve been putting in in training Monday to Friday.

“If we get to those levels every week then I think we’ll start winning a lot more games.”

Miller revealed McIntyre has worked a lot on basics since he took over from Neil McCann.

The former Rangers and Celtic striker said: “You can see by the way we’re playing – we’re 4-4-2, everybody knows their jobs.

“There’s a lot of basic stuff getting put in,  fundametals of set-plays, organisation, and the kinds of passes that are going to be available to give us opportunities.

“It’s quite simple stuff.”

The Buddies have not won a league game since the opening day of the season – against Dundee – and have gone nine games without a win under boss Oran Kearney.

However, it was the Northern Irishman’s first point on the road and he was pleased to see midfielder Kyle Magennis back from a hamstring injury for the first time since the goalless draw against Celtic on September 14 in Paisley, in Kearney’s first game in charge.

He told St Mirren’s official website: “I am delighted to get him back.

“He got injured after the first game but I have watched him closely in his rehab, the boxing, press-ups and all the aspects and he has just one gear and that’s fifth gear.

“He is a tremendous young man and I thought giving him the captaincy would give him an extra yard.

“He was outstanding and more than anything showed what a huge loss he has been over the last six or seven weeks.”