Football: LIFE SUPPORT; Dundee 1 Livingston 0 Fotheringham plays through pain but insists fans are real heroes for Dee.

Byline: EWING GRAHAME

MARK Fotheringham played through the pain barrier to help shoot Dundee to the verge of the top six then admitted he and his team-mates won it to thank the fans who have helped keep their club alive.

Everywhere you turned at Dens Park there was someone collecting for Dee4Life, the supporters' group dedicated to finding cash to help pay the bills for the Dark Blues.

The match programme contained details of a fund-raising sportsman's dinner and the reintroduction - at Dee4Life's suggestion - of a parent-and-child discount ticket for home matches.

Skipper Barry Smith revealed that over pounds 140,000 had already been raised by their punters and Fotheringham claimed the players have no option but to match their dedication.

The midfielder certainly did that on Saturday, even though he almost missed the kick-off.

The 20-year-old was the last person to take the field on Saturday but, as he revealed afterwards, it wasn't down to superstition.

"I needed to get pain-killing injections in a poisoned toe and when the referee chapped on the dressing-room door I had my shorts down, one sock on and my shirt only half on," he grinned.

"I needed two injections. The toe was badly swollen and became infected. It was also bruised on the bone but I should be OK in a few weeks.

"Anyway, the gaffer was yelling 'Get out there!' at me so I had to get a move on."

Fotheringham was the last man off the pitch, having collected his well-deserved Man of the Match award after Dundee edged out opponents who, at one stage, looked likely to play them off it.

For the bulk of the first half, and rather less of the second, Livingston moved the ball around with crisp passing movements while the home side struggled to retain possession on the rare occasions they enjoyed it. Davie Hay's men struggled to get behind a sturdy Dundee defence, however, and most of their best efforts came from long distance, with David Fernandez and Lee Makel both inches away with 25-yard drives.

However, the only notable save Dundee keeper Julian Speroni had to make was when he dived to his left to scramble away a mishit clearance by Tom Hutchinson.

Dundee weathered that storm, though, and gradually found a foothold in the match. Jim Duffy's decision to play four in midfield eventually paid off as his men wore down the opposition by sheer hard graft.

At the heart of their revival was Fotheringham. The former Celt lacks for nothing in ability or attitude and if he can channel his natural aggression positively the Dundonian can become a local hero.

Here he displayed dig and delicate touches in equal measure and, hardly surprisingly, was involved in the build-up to the game's only goal.

His pass picked out Steven Robb and the winger's perfectly-weighted ball was drilled low past the helpless Roddy McKenzie by Steven Milne from 15 yards.

It was Milne's first goal since last April, but his clinical finish will help to convince him that his recovery from a major operation to move a dislodged kneecap is complete.

Fotheringham still found time to become involved in a needless scuffle with David McNamee in the dying seconds but his passion for the game makes such squabbles almost inevitable.

He also revealed that the players' commitment was inspired by manager Duffy, who had made it clear to them that their lame display in losing to Dunfermline at Dens the previous Saturday had been unacceptable.

"The boss made it quite clear that our performance that day hadn't been good enough," he said. "He told us we had to get our act together and that our fans deserved a lot better after spending every penny they could to help our cause.

"In any case, it was sweet to beat Livingston after they beat us with a last-minute penalty in the CIS Cup semi-final."

Fotheringham's toe injury, picked up against Motherwell, meant he had to pull out of the Scotland Under-21 squad for last week's game against Hungary - though coach Rainer Bonhof assured him he won't be forgotten.

Careless

Duffy, meanwhile, was as pleased by his team's efforts as he had been unhappy the week before.

"We had to work hard for the win but I always knew that would be the case," he said.

"I thought we started well but then we got a bit careless and that let them come right into it. However, when we managed to keep the ball on the ground - as we did at the goal - it worked for us."

Duffy also praised Milne and looked forward to a better second half of the season for the forward.

He said: "Steven's been out for six or seven months and it's a long time to be out injured.

"But that goal was more like him, a good first touch and a strike across the goalkeeper so I was very pleased for him."

Livingston boss Hay, whose side are now just one point ahead of Dundee, took defeat on the chin. "Even when we took control in the first half we weren't creating too many chances," he admitted.

"It was always going to be a tight match and it could have gone either way: unfortunately for us, it went theirs."

49% POSSESSION 51%

3 SHOTS ON TARGET 3

6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 9

0 OFFSIDES 3

3 CORNERS 2

9 FOULS 11

2 YELLOW CARDS 2

0 RED CARDS 0

ATTENDANCE: 6,108

MAN OF THE MATCH: Fotheringham

CAPTION(S):

GOAL-DEN STRIKE: Milne fires Dee ahead; WELCOME BACK: Milne celebrates; LOCAL HERO: Fotheringham