DAVID Goodwillie's stunning header midway through the second half not only sank a battling Dundee side, but had the Aberdeen fans calling for manager Derek McInnes to ensure the striker remains at Pittodrie beyond the end of the season.

The former Blackburn Rovers player, brought to the north-east in the summer, was signed only until the end of this campaign, but his form lately - as much as a provider than as a scorer - has been sparkling, with McInnes proclaiming he is a better player now than he was when he left Dundee United for Lancashire more than three years ago for £2 million.

"We'll look at talking about a contract extension in good time," he said. "We got a very good player when we signed him. He just need the opportunity and a club that believed in him and that's where we are. I hope he can stay longer, but we're just enjoying working with him. I think he'll continue to show his quality for our team over the course of the season.

"It was a brilliant header to win the game. He caught the flight of the ball really early and sometimes when you see that a long way you've still got to make sure you execute it. It was a top- drawer finish and I believe his general play shows him to be a better player than the boy who went down south. He separated a tight contest with that bit of quality."

Dundee came into this match having lost their previous three outings, two to rivals Dundee United - one of which was in the League Cup - and to Ross County in Dingwall, and needing to convince their supporters that such a blip would be quickly overcome, while Aberdeen had won three of their four games and drawn one last Tuesday night to St Mirren, surrendering a two-goal lead in the process.

Still, there was little time for anyone to dwell on such irrelevancies as the visitors focused fans' minds with a fourth-minute opener.

Willo Flood feeded Goodwillie on the right of the area and his neat chip across goal was met by the head of Andrew Considine, recalled to the side because of the absence of Jonny Hayes, whose pace was missed.

Dundee's retaliation was swift and, despite there being a clutch of red shirts between him and Jamie Langfield, Gary Harkins' 25-yard strike was ferocious enough to beat the Dons keeper and re-establish parity.

A little slice of luck was to help Aberdeen take a lead just before half an hour had been played. Niall McGinn's swerving ball into the Dundee penalty box was meant for Shaleum Logan, but he was beaten to the ball by Dundee centre-back James McPake only for his glancing header to perversely sneak into his own net at the right-hand post of his goalkeeper Kyle Letheren.

It was an attack that was symbolic of the tempo of this compelling game. Minutes later Harkins, a constant handful for the Dons defence, carried the ball deep into opposition territory and his final, perfectly weighted pass found David Clarkson, whose shot then struck the base of Langfield's post.

Nonetheless, the Dark Blues, still direct and aggressive in their play, were back on the level terms 10 minutes after the break.Kevin McBride's chip into the Dons area proved problematic for Ash Taylor who bundled Jim McAlister to the ground in the area and afforded the home side the opportunity to capitalise on referee Willie Collum's penalty kick award, which David Clarkson thrashed high into the net. With 35 minutes remaining, it was evident there were still more goals in this entertaining affair and when Logan, operating as an out-and-out right winger following McInnes's decision early in the first half to revert to a three-man defence, delivered the sweetest of crosses for Goodwillie to fire home a wonderful header from 12 yards to score his side's third goal.

The Dark Blues' fighting spirit would not abate, however, and there were several scary moments for an Aberdeen defence forced to graft extra hard, particularly in their efforts to subdue a lively Harkins, with a measure of success.

Paul Hartley, having watched his Dundee side lose their fourth successive game, was unhappy at how the Dens Parkers conceded their goals, despite being pleased with their overall play.

"We gave Goodwillie too much space when he scored the winner," he insisted. "I warned my players before the game that they have great deliveries from the wide areas with full-backs who like to bomb forward.

"We got a great goal from Harkins to get ourselves back into things after they hit their first goal. He had a great game and he's back to his best.

"There were a lot of pluses for us and both sides entertained the fans with the way the game should be played. I'm glad there's a break for the internationals as it gives some of our injured players time to recover."