Hartley praises Stewart late strike

Stewart denied 10-man Hamilton a morale-boosting victory with a late strike as Dundee salvaged a point from the Scottish Premiership encounter.

Accies, despite losing Dougie Imrie to a 54th-minute red card for a stamp on Stewart, looked set to end a run of four successive defeats with a win as new player-manager Martin Canning headed them in front with just five minutes left.

However, they were not able to hold on as Stewart struck with two minutes to go to earn his side a 1-1 draw and extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Hartley said: "It was a fantastic finish from Stewart.

"He always looked a threat and I thought he was our best player.

"We were happy in the end to get a point after going a goal down.

"We weren't at our best today b ut the good thing is that it keeps our unbeaten run going which now stands at six games."

Hartley admitted a great deal of improvement is needed if they are to get a positive result against Celtic, though.

"We'll need to play much better next weekend though to stand any chance against Celtic in the Scottish Cup," Hartley said.

"We know that though and all credit to the players.

"They kept going which tells you all about their character.

"We know they give everything and you saw that today.

"It is difficult playing against 10 men but we still didn't pass the ball well enough or work their keeper enough to get the win we were looking for which was disappointing."