McInnes praises players as Aberdeen get back to winning ways at St Johnstone
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes praised his players for showing the resilience required to bounce back from their shock 3-0 loss to Rangers.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes praised his players for showing the resilience required to bounce back from their shock 3-0 loss to Rangers.
The second-placed Dons shipped three late goals against Gers last weekend to suffer only their second home defeat of the season, a result which allowed the Glasgow club to cut the gap between the pair to nine points.
However, the Dons got back on track at the first opportunity as Ryan Christie's strike and a Tam Scobbie own goal sent them on their way to a 2-1 victory at fourth-placed St Johnstone.
The home side pulled a goal back through Danny Swanson's penalty at the start of the second half but they could not break the Dons down again, much to the delight of McInnes.
“I thought the players dealt with the game brilliantly. We pressed well and controlled the game in that opening 35 minutes. We deservedly got two goals,” he said.
“The appetite we had was everything I wanted because this could have been a really difficult game coming here, especially after last week.
“The competitive aspect of St Johnstone is always there. They never know when they are beat so it was important we kept going.”
Christie, on loan from champions Celtic, played his way into contention for the Scottish Cup semi-final with Hibernian with regular starter Niall McGinn missing with a groin strain.
“Ryan was bright as a button. He got his goal, which his play merited,” said McInnes, who was less pleased with referee Bobby Madden's decision to award Saints a penalty.
“It was a really really soft penalty. I think Steven MacLean was being clever. I don't think there was any momentum from Anthony O'Connor to step forward and catch him,” he added.
“The players had to deal with the situation. I thought we dealt with it really well, keeping their chances to a bare minimum although they had a lot of pressure.”
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright was bemused by his team's sluggish start.
But with the post-split fixtures looming they retain a four-point advantage on Hearts in the push for fourth place.
Wright said: “I thought we showed them too much respect. We sat off them, never got in about them and made it too easy.
“I was disappointed in the two goals we conceded. We should have done better. They summed up the first 35 minutes for us.
“I thought we got more into it and started the second half really well and played on the front foot a lot. But in the end neither keeper was worked in the second half, even though we got into really good positions.”