The manager’s reaction

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes was impressed with the effort put in by both sides, but admitted there was not much in the way of quality on show.

His side lost out to Saints in the Scottish Cup semi-finals a fortnight ago, but could not avenge that defeat.

And the Dons boss said “We showed plenty of endeavour, but it’s not the result we would have wanted. I don’t think we brought enough quality to the game.

“The goals from both teams came from defensive errors and I don’t think we carved St Johnstone open enough.

“I can’t fault the effort and commitment of the players, but we needed to bring more pace and tempo. We weren’t at our best, but picked up a point which could prove important come the end of the season.”

Robertson, who made the mistake that led to May’s opener, was back in the side for the first time since October following a knee injury, and McInnes revealed his return is timely after two other defenders picked up knocks in training during the week.

McInnes said: “Andrew Considine overstretched his hamstring in training on Thursday and Joe Shaughnessy took a knock to his knee.

“It wasn’t a good day for us, but it’s too early to say whether they’ll be available for the game against Celtic.”

St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright praised the fitness and work-rate of his charges after their 1-1 draw with Aberdeen, but still felt his side could perhaps have sneaked all three points at Pittodrie.

The Northern Irishman saw his side take the lead after Stevie May capitalised on Clark Robertson’s mistake to open the scoring, only for Saints midfielder Chris Millar to come up short with a pass-back and allow Adam Rooney to level the scores after half-an-hour.

Wright said “I’ve very pleased. It’s a good point and a fair result.

“It’s strange that for two teams of such quality we’ve both scored similar goals that have come from mistakes, but we could have snatched all three points at the end.

“Alan Mannus had to make a good save at the end, so I’m sure [manager] Derek McInnes will say Aberdeen could have won it too and I think the share of the points was fair.

“If you look at Aberdeen’s record they’re particularly strong at home, so I’m pleased with the point and both that and the performance were important.

“We’ve now taken four points out of six after the split which is very good, and I have to commend the players for our run of form from the end of March onwards.”

Wright has shown over the course of the season that he is not afraid to make big decisions, and went with just May up front against the Dons.

The manager said of the decision: “We tried to nullify Peter Pawlett, which I think worked, and we went man-for-man in the midfield.

“We also have to manage Steven MacLean between now and the end of the season, so it was a good opportunity to change the formation and give him a rest.”

“We also have to manage Steven MacLean between now and the end of the season, so it was a good opportunity to change the formation and give him a rest.”

“We also have to manage Steven MacLean between now and the end of the season, so it was a good opportunity to change the formation and give him a rest.”