Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie was happy enough to come away with a point from a bruising encounter in Almondvale, if a little frustrated that his side couldn’t clinch all three.

“It wasn’t the best of games, not the most enjoyable, but we knew what to expect coming down here.

“They work very hard, they’re physical, they’ve got some big guys in that side so we expected them to be direct.

“We were delighted to keep a clean sheet and really restrict them to no real chances, the back three especially dealt with all the long balls they threw forward really well. I thought they were brilliant as a unit. Nouble up front is very physical, but they stood up to him and Guthrie really well.

“The frustration is we didn’t have enough going forward, we needed a bit more calmness to open them up rather than going a wee bit too direct ourselves. We created a couple of good chances even then, but we didn’t play as much football as we would have liked.

“We knew they weren’t going to try and pass it around with the two big guys they’ve got up front. Coming here, it’s always going to be very competitive, aggressive, and you must be ready for it. I don’t think it was a dirty game, I know there were seven yellow cards but I think for the most part, it was players mistiming things in the first game of the season, which happens when everybody is still looking for that real sharpness that comes with games.”