SCOTT BAIN, the Dundee goalkeeper, spared his team a thrashing in the Highlands but spared nobody, himself included, as he dissected another dismal afternoon for the Dens Park men.

The Scotland squad goalkeeper is convinced the Dark Blues are close to turning a corner in the Ladbrokes Premiership campaign, but painted the picture of a team lacking cohesion, understanding and certainty in their work after Saturday's setback.

Dundee are accustomed to disappointment in the Highland capital, having failed to win at the Caledonian Stadium in all nine past attempts. Indeed, they have now failed to beat Caley Thistle in 16 tussles, home and away, dating back to November 2009. But the truly alarming statistic for Paul Hartley's side and their supporters is the lack of a win since the opening day of the league season.

A run of six matches without victory since beating Ross County in Dingwall has torpedoed early season optimism and set the Taysiders on the slide with just six points from a possible 21.

Bain, whose impressive saves prevented a worse outcome in Inverness, admitted: "We need to find our style and sense of the way we want to play. It has been a bit confusing.

"I think at the start of the day, the boys didn't really know what we were doing. Once we can get that shape and get ourselves together, we can get out of it. We just need a little spark.

"Confidence is fine. We know we're close. It's just a case of putting the ball in the back of the net. But we're not doing well enough defensively so that's where our problems are stemming from – both of those."

Bain, with Scottish international ambitions in mind, knows he needs to produce strong performances on a weekly basis – and this certainly fell into that category. Just before Lonsana Doumbouya's eighth-minute opener, the Edinburgh-born 24 year-old produced a brilliant tip over the bar from Ross Draper. He also denied Jake Mulraney superbly after the Dens defence was split wide open after 64 minutes before pulling off a fine double-save from Draper and Brad McKay. It might have been far worse for Dundee, then, had their No.1 not been in keen form.

"Obviously it is a big season for me. I need to play try to play well every week," Bain admitted. "I have high expectations of myself and high aspirations. So it is disappointing we didn't get the result, but, of course, I'm always looking to play well."

Victory hoisted Inverness into eighth place – one slot above Dundee – and it was a thoroughly impressive performance. The team who endured a run of four straight defeats in the league and League Cup in August have now beaten St Johnstone and Dundee, while pulling off impressive draws against Aberdeen and Celtic.

Crucially, Richie Foran's signings appear to be plugging the gaps left by last year's spate of big name departures. Brad McKay was excellent in setting up two of the goals while Doumbouya, the big French striker picked up from Belgian minnows Cercle Brugge, looks very capable. After Bain's acrobatic save from Draper, ex-St Johnstone and Hearts man McKay fired in a superb cross from the right. Doumbouya met it with his head a good 12 yards from goal but guided a powerful header high past Bain for his first club goal in only his second start.

Home dominance crystallized into a second goal after 16 minutes when Julen Etxabeguren knocked down the lively Billy King just inside the box. Greg Tansey, with some venom, flashed the spot-kick high past Bain. When Dundee rallied towards half-time, Bain's opposite number Owain Fon Williams - in breathtaking form against Celtic last Sunday - was a match to it with fine saves from Faisal El Bakhtaoui and Cammy Kerr. The game was then done as a genuine contest just six minutes into the second half when McKay slipped a perfect pass into Liam Polworth's path in the box for a cool finish.

For Doumbouya, savouring his first taste of top flight football in a new country, the transition has been something of an eye-opener, but highly enjoyable. The 6ft 4ins tall Nice-born striker, who signed a two-year deal in late August, was complimentary about the standards he has encountered since swapping lower league Belgian action for Scotland's top flight. He said: "I'm very happy because it's my first goal but the most important thing was securing the win for the team and moving up the table. "Brad put in a good ball, and I got my timing just right with the header to score. "The game against Celtic, my first start, was a very good physical match. Today, it was a little bit like that again, but it was important to win no matter how we did it. "But compared to Belgian football, at the level I'm used to, there is much more quality play. There, it is very physical and every touch there is a foul. Here, it is physical also but teams play football as well. "It is difficult, but after three or four games I am adapting well. It has been getting better for me with each game. "I enjoy it. It's a very good team and I'm very happy to be living and playing football in Inverness."