The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Extra edge to Dons games – MacLean
ST JOHNSTONE: Striker expecting tough game
An Aberdeen v St Johnstone game always has an extra edge, according to Steven MacLean.
But the Perth striker has insisted that the tunnel bust-up the last time they were at Pittodrie hasn’t turned up the temperature for this afternoon’s return to the Granite City. The Saints players took exception to the Dons’ dressing room door being wedged open as they celebrated their last gasp Betfred Cup quarter final win a couple of months ago.
As far as MacLean, who was caught in the middle of it, is concerned, the incident has been put to bed.
“It was nothing to do with the game,” he said. “We all shook hands afterwards. It was to do with them being disrespectful after the game.
“It wasn’t even the manner of their celebrations. It was about keeping the door closed – simple as that. Especially when the dressing rooms are as close to each other.”
“I’m not going to say who it was – it might have been a member of staff, not a player.
“I’ve been beaten plenty of times in my career and I’ve won plenty of times. There’s a way to win and a way to lose.
“It’s been brushed under the carpet. It’s fine now.”
MacLean, a former Aberdeen player, says this is a fixture he looks forward to.
“It will be as competitive as ever,” he said. “There’s three points on the line. They want to get second and we want to catch them.
“You just need to look at our games against Aberdeen this season to see we should go there with confidence. The first one was 0-0. They had better possession and we had better chances.
“Then in the cup there was nothing in that one either. It was typical football. We hit the woodwork and it falls to their player and they go up the pitch and score the winner.
“It will be a tough game. Derek (McInnes) has set up his team to be more physical against us this season. With the squad they’ve got they should maybe be thinking they should roll over us but we know they’ll not do that.
“We’ve scored some goals with fantastic football this season. We’re not one dimensional. We’ve proved that we can mix it and that we can play as well. I think it will have an edge. It usually does.”
Both teams will be confident, Saints after their 3-0 win against Inverness Caley Thistle and the Reds after their 5-1 midweek thrashing of Kilmarnock.
“It was a good result for us,” MacLean said. “I thought we played well. “First goals in games are massive. We got the early goal which gave us a good base and I thought the defenders and midfield were excellent in keeping a clean-sheet.”
MacLean is determined that fifthplaced Saints will neither be cut adrift by the top four nor dragged back into the seven-club pack beneath them.
“I don’t think you should ever say you’re happy where you are,” he said. “You should always look to push on. But you’ve got to be wary as well, and look over your shoulder.
“Listen, I’m not going to go into budgets and things like that. I’ll leave that to other people. But if you were to say that we’d finish fifth that would always be a successful season for St Johnstone.
“We’ve got to look up but still be aware of what’s going on behind us.
“A couple of weeks ago when we had a free Saturday I think there were five teams who could have been bottom, depending on how results went that day.
“A run of three or four games with a couple of wins and a couple of draws will make a big difference in this league. Teams will be looking to catch us and there are teams above us looking to pull away.
“The most important thing is to stay in touch with the top four and if we do that we shouldn’t be concerned with what’s behind us.”
Saints should have Chris Millar and David Wotherspoon available. Paul Paton will miss out.