St Johnstone 1-1 Aberdeen: Barry Robson still believes Aberdeen can catch Hearts in third
- Published
David Kjeltens scored on his St Johnstone debut to earn a draw
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson says he still believes his team can finish third in the Scottish Premiership despite a draw at St Johnstone leaving them 16 points adrift of Hearts.
Bojan Miovski's second-half penalty - awarded after an on-field review by referee John Beaton found Liam Gordon had kicked Slobodan Rubezic - put Aberdeen in front at McDiarmid Park but they could not hold on for victory.
Instead, St Johnstone got their reward for persevering when Graham Carey's cross found debutant David Keltjens, who beat stranded Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos to the ball and nodded into an empty net.
That made up for Carey's brilliant volley being disallowed at 0-0, after a trip to the screen by Beaton found another foul by Saints captain Gordon, this time on Jamie McGrath.
The draw nudges Aberdeen above Dundee and into seventh but they are still well behind third-place Hearts, who they face on Saturday at Tynecastle, albeit with three games in hand.
"We've got to believe that, and I believe that [Aberdeen can catch Hearts]," Robson told BBC Scotland. "We need to go and try our best to do that. We've still got a few games in hand on them.
"We want to go on a run and perform well. We did it last year. It's going to be a big ask. But we believe and we've got to fight for every point.
"There tonight we had to make sure we got over the line to pick up the three points. That's a learning curve. But we just have to go and win games and get it right in both boxes."
Craig Levein's St Johnstone stay in 10th place, eight points clear of bottom club Livingston having played the same number of matches.
Player of the match - Graham Carey (St Johnstone)
Daniel Phillips was good again for St Johnstone, but Carey is their creator in chief. He provided the equaliser and had a goal ruled out, creating three chances overall
Saints respond to cup loss, Aberdeen lack identity - analysis
St Johnstone needed a reaction from Saturday's shock cup exit at Airdrieonians, and manager Levein did get it eventually. The first half was poor from both sides, a non-event.
However, after the break it was Saints who created the better chances. The foul by Gordon that ended in Carey's goal being chalked off seemed soft, and then to concede a penalty in the same fashion was frustrating.
But the hosts bounced back well, with Diallang Jaiyesimi missing two opportunities, and Max Kucheraviyi hitting the frame of the goal. They are still winless in five and have only managed 14 goals in 21 games, but it was a solid home performance.
Aberdeen have now played half of their league games and it is unclear what their identity or style of play is. Manager Barry Robson has played a back five for most of the season, but it did not bring solidity or results and drew criticism about an overly direct style.
A switch to a back four since the turn of the year has allowed a more possession-based approach, but Aberdeen move the ball too slowly and play with no natural wide players.
At McDiarmid it meant they were narrow, slow and predictable, until the end of the match when things became stretched, and Miovski and substitute Ester Sokler had headed chances.
When Miovksi stroked in his 17th goal of the season from the spot, Aberdeen reverted to the back five to try to see things out with half an hour to play, but still looked vulnerable and conceded.
Saturday's meeting with Hearts is now huge for the Aberdeen manager. Lose and hopes of third spot will fade away, and there is little time to come up with solutions to the team's problems.
What they said
St Johnstone manager Craig Levein: "The most pleasing thing for the match tonight was we redeemed ourselves [from Saturday]. Much more unity and togetherness. We have a goal chopped off and a penalty against us. I thought we deserved at least a point.
"The boys are saying the penalty was a penalty. They've been great in every single bar match bar Saturday and for 20 minutes against Kilmarnock. They've been really enthusiastic."
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson: "We never penetrated or passed it through them enough. Second half the game became a bit basketball. It does [feel like a missed opportunity]."
What's next?
St Johnstone host Motherwell on Saturday (15:00 GMT) while Aberdeen face Hearts at Tynecastle at the same time.