Robson eager to get the better of his old boss Levein as Dons head to Perth

Barry Robson knows more than most what to expect from St Johstone boss Craig Levein when he takes his Aberdeen sidetomcdiarmidparktonight.

The Dons manager was captain at Dundee United under Levein, who was also his boss at international level with Scotland. Both are now dugout adversaries and the former Aberdeen, Middlesbrough and Celtic midfielder is looking forward to the cinch Premiership meeting in Perth.

"First and foremost, Craig Levein is a really good manager," said Robson, who is frustrated that defender Jimmy Mcgarry could be out for another two weeks with a hamstring problem.

"I worked under him, I was his captain at Dundee United and I was with him at Scotland as well.

"I have lots of respect for him. I think he's been a terrific manager over the years who knows exactly what he's doing.

"He never gave me an inch as a captain or as a player either let me tell you, but very enjoyable to work under, demanding. I enjoyed it. Learned a lot.

"I get on very well with Craig, I have a lot of respect for him, but it doesn't take away from me wanting to take the team down there and wanting to win. He will want to win, but I definitely want to go down there and pick up three points.

"The game is really important, just like every other game. It is always a hard place to go and play and get results. We have to go down and perform as well as we can."

Saints were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Championship side Airdrie on Saturday, and so Levein will be desperate to get back on track.

"I was obviously disappointed with the result and the performance but to be fair to the players, other than 20 minutes against Kilmarnock, which was poor, that was the first time that we had played as badly,” said the St Johnstone manager.

"So I have evidence of two examples of games where we haven't performed anywhere near our best. The challenge is to get back to full speed as quickly as possible.

"Whether the break has had something to do with it I'm not really sure, and you also have to give credit to Airdrie, they played well on the day. But we need to get back to doing what we have been doing."