Hartley hails perfect performance

The Dee were on the front foot from the off and could have been out of sight by the time they scored their first in the 34th minute through Greg Stewart's curling effort.

Rory Loy scored either side of the interval to effectively end the game as a contest before Stewart bookended the scoring in the 78th minute to complete an ideal afternoon for Hartley and Dundee at Rugby Park.

Hartley said: "That was the perfect performance from the team. I thought we dominated from start to finish and was only worried that we had missed so many chances in the first 20 minutes.

"It was probably the best performance since I came to the club in terms of how we played offensively."

Hartley was also keen to praise the work-rate of new signings Loy and Kane Hemmings.

Hartley added: "We brought in Rory Loy and Kane Hemmings to take some of the pressure off Greg Stewart and I thought the work ethic and movement from the front three was terrific."

Gary Locke, at the start of his first full season at Kilmarnock, looked as stunned as his players as he reflected on a nightmare start for his newly shaped side.

The Kilmarnock boss said: "We were poor and have no excuses. As well as Dundee played, we were very poor. We were second best and never got close to their flair players.

"It's only one game but it was a disaster for us.

"The players are well aware of how badly they played but the great thing in footbal is it is not long until our next game and putting that performance behind us."