Aberdeen

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• St Johnstone have scored in their last eight Scottish Premiership home games.

• Bojan Miovski has scored 10 goals in the Scottish Premiership this season, more than any other Aberdeen player.

• Graham Carey has now assisted three league goals this season, more than any other St Johnstone player.

• Slobodan Rubezic won five fouls in this game, more than any other player on either team.

• Aberdeen have conceded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of games this season, more than any other team in the Scottish Premiership this season.

Former Aberdeen defender Mattie Pollock, who helped the Dons clinch third in the Premiership last season, is pushing for a move away from Watford and the 22-year-old has submitted a transfer request. (Press & Journal)

Read all the rest of Thursday's gossip.

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Did you make the trip to Perth or follow along from home?

Either way, how are you feeling after that result? Do you agree with Barry Robson that your side can catch Hearts and finish third?

Let us know.

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Aberdeen manager Barry Robson tells BBC Scotland: "We never penetrated or passed it through them enough. Second half the game became a bit basketball. We get a goal and they come at us a bit more.

"It does [feel like a missed opportunity]. We want to come here and win and we've got another tough game coming at the weekend.

"It's frustrating when you've got 12 minutes to go, and you need a bit of nous and experience. Just be calm and get the win. But we got a bit excitable."

Asked if he thinks Aberdeen can catch Hearts, he said: "We've got to believe that, and I believe that. 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 that and we've got to fight for every point. There tonight we had to make sure we get over the line and pick up the three points."

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Thomas Duncan, BBC Sport Scotland

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.

Aberdeen boss Barry Robson picks the same XI for the third game in a row after wins over Ross County and Clyde.

Bojan Miovksi has four goals and one assist in his last four Premiership matches and leads the line against St Johnstone.

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Out-of-favour Aberdeen forward Vinnie Besuijen has been offered a return to the Netherlands after a potential move to the Dutch second tier emerged for the 22-year-old. (Press & Journal), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Liam McLeod, BBC Sport Scotland

Trailing third-placed Hearts by 17 points but with four games in hand, Aberdeen are faced with a similar battle to the one they took on last term when they roared back from double-digits behind to finish third.

The Dons return to league business at St Johnstone on Wednesday night after a three-week mini-hiatus, with games against Hearts themselves and Dundee to come in the next week.

The first one isn’t a fixture renowned for its goals. Though that hasn’t always been the case. It is a match-up that perhaps still sends a shiver down the spine of certain Aberdeen supporters, more than three decades on from one of the most damaging results in the club’s history.

Alex Smith and Jocky Scott’s exciting side were unbeaten in the league by the end of September 1990, but had seen their grip on the League Cup ended by Rangers in the semi-finals of the competition just days before their first ever visit to McDiarmid Park. The newly-promoted Saints had moved into their new home in Perth the campaign before, and had celebrated by winning the First Division, returning to the top flight for the first time in six seasons.

For those who weren’t at the match, the result was barely believable as Alex Totten’s side wracked up a 5-0 victory against the 10-men Dons who had Davie Robertson sent off in the first half.

Fast forward seven months and Aberdeen beat Saints 2-1 at Pittodrie to set-up a league decider at Ibrox, with Rangers losing 3-0 to Motherwell at Fir Park at the same time. Dougie Arnott scored the third for the Steelmen and it tipped the marginal goal-difference Aberdeen’s way, meaning a draw would have been enough in Glasgow to win the title.

There was a lot of football to be played between the horror show in the Fair City and that date with destiny in Govan, but the surprise points dropped proved crucial as Rangers won 2-0 to seal the third of their nine-in-a-row. How different things could have been at Pittodrie with the Champions League riches just round the corner.

In more recent times, the last 18 meetings between the sides there have only registered more than two goals once and the only other game between them this season was a dire goalless draw at Pittodrie. It isn’t one for the purists, but it is one Barry Robson has to win if they are to return to European football next season.

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Barry Robson has been talking up the value of the winter break after it was announced there would be no hiatus in next season's Scottish Premiership.

His Aberdeen side had a crammed schedule in the first half of the campaign, with the manager previously saying the break allowed him time on the training pitch that simply wasn't possible while they were playing so many games.

“It was announced yesterday that there will be no winter break next season, I think the break is good. You can freshen up teams, players and staff. I think people forget staff sometimes in football clubs. Listen its because there’s more European games.

"It came at a good time for us after the schedule we had. It’s football, it is what it is as and we just deal with what comes our way and just crack on."

The Dons have won both of their games in 2024 - either side of the winter break - with some fans attributing their upturn in form to the switch to a back four.

However, Robson believes "principles" are more important that tactical tweaks, challenging his team to impose themselves on their opposition.

"I think systems come and go but I think it is about principles and how you do things in the games. We like to stick to that rather than anything else.

"We want to press well, we want to get through teams well and we want to try and perform well and create chances."

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson has been speaking to the media ahead of his side's trip St Johnstone on Wednesday.

Here are the key points...

• Claims "principles" are more important than changing systems which "come and go". He wants his team to press well and create chances.

• Wednesday's meeting with St Johnstone is an "important" and "difficult" game and praises Craig Levein for his organisational abilities.

• Expresses disappointment at the news that the winter break will cease to exist next season as it allows teams to "freshen up", but adds that Aberdeen will "crack on" without it.

• No new injury news, though he adds that James McGarry will be back in two or three weeks after suffering a hamstring issue.

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Aberdeen return to Premiership action on Saturday with a trip to face St Johnstone.

If you were Barry Robson, who would make your starting lineup?

Pick your Dons XI here.

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• St. Johnstone have failed to win any of their last four Scottish Premiership matches against Aberdeen (D1 L3) since a 1-0 win in May 2022. Saints haven’t scored 2+ goals in a league match against Aberdeen since December 2018, drawing a blank in each of their last four against the Dons.

• Aberdeen have won on four of their last five away visits to McDiarmid Park (L1), with all of the last five such matches ending in a 1-0 scoreline (four to Aberdeen, one to St. Johnstone).

• St. Johnstone have lost just one of their five home league matches under Craig Levein (W3 D1) since his appointment, winning three of their last four (L1) – keeping a clean sheet in all three of those victories.

• Aberdeen have won three of their last six Scottish Premiership away games (L3), as many victories as across their previous 16 league games on the road (D2 L11); the Dons could win back-to-back away games for the first time since April 2023 when they won three in a row, including against St. Johnstone and Ross County, who they beat 3-0 last time out.

• Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski has been involved in five goals in his last four Scottish Premiership matches (4 goals 1 assist) and overall he is averaging a goal contribution every 139 minutes in the competition this season – nine goals and two assists in 1526 minutes.