Motherwell held on for a 1-1 home draw with Dundee after injuries to Chris Cadden and Elliott Frear saw them finish their Ladbrokes Premiership encounter with 10 men.

Dundee had a strong wind at their backs in the first half at Fir Park but took the lead within two minutes of the restart when Paul McGowan finished brilliantly from 20 yards.

Craig Tanner levelled from the spot in the 61st minute but Frear's exit handed Dundee the advantage for the final 14 minutes, however Josh Meekings was denied by a post and a brilliant save from Trevor Carson.

Motherwell had lost their previous four games but had Trevor Carson, Peter Hartley, Cadden and Frear back from injury lay-offs, the latter starting on the bench.

The visitors had the better chances in the opening quarter, all of them coming from crosses from Jon Aurtenetxe.

Sofien Moussa headed off the top of the bar, Gael Bigirimana blocked well from AJ Leitch-Smith and Meekings headed over from four yards after Moussa had headed a corner back into the goalmouth.

Tanner had Motherwell's first effort on target but Elliott Parish was well behind it and they missed several decent opportunities late in the half.

Cedric Kipre and Liam Grimshaw were well off target from decent chances and Cadden fired a cross too far in front of the unmarked Ryan Bowman.

Just after the home fans took their seats again in anticipation of their team using the wind advantage, Dundee stunned them after winning the ball just inside their own half.

Faissal El Bakhtaoui's pass gave McGowan the invitation to run at an open Motherwell defence and he struck the ball into the top corner.

Parish denied Grimshaw after a good run from the midfielder, who soon made way in a double substitution before Cadden suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem and went off for Andy Rose.

Another substitute, George Newell, had a header saved after good passing move before Motherwell were gifted a way back into the game when Mark O'Hara caught Kipre with an attempted clearance and referee Don Robertson pointed to the spot with no complaint from the Dundee player.

Tanner sent Parish the wrong way and soon forced a decent stop from the goalkeeper from a 25-yard free-kick.

Frear's comeback lasted little more than 20 minutes and Dundee had chances to exploit their numerical advantage. Meekings headed off the post following a free-kick, Scott Allan threatened twice and McGowan hooked a shot just beyond the far post.

There was mild panic in the home support when Carson went down needing treatment but he played on and protected the point with an excellent one-handed save from Meekings' header deep in stoppage time.