Aberdeen dedicate victory to unwell interim manager Leven
ABERDEEN development coach Scott Anderson dedicated his side’s victory over St Johnstone to the absent Peter Leven after Bojan Miovski’s penalty proved enough to seal the Dons’ cinch Premiership status.
Leven, in interim charge at Pittodrie as they await the summer arrival of Jimmy Thelin, was admitted to hospital on Friday evening, and underwent an “emergency procedure”, but is expected to make a “full and swift recovery”.
After a sluggish start Aberdeen went on to dominate against Craig Levein’s Saints. With 25 minutes left, the Dons were awarded a spot-kick as Nicky Devlin tumbled under the closing pair of Daniel Phillips and Andrew Considine. VAR checked first the penalty call, then a possible offside, before Miovski stepped up to slot into the bottom-right as Dimitar Mitov went the other way.
Leven’s side were not put off by his absence, and Anderson said: “Peter’s fine and he’s on the mend. When he had to go in last night it was a bit of a shock, but health comes first and we’re hopeful to have Peter back in the early part of the week.
“We’re pleased to get over the line with the three points today, and with the second half in particular in terms of the chances created, and we’ve managed to keep the back door shut, so it’s a positive afternoon.
“The players hold Peter in high regard, and part of their efforts today was definitely to make sure they got the three points and give Peter something to smile about.”
The result, combined with Ross County’s win over Hibernian, sees St Johnstone drop into the play-off position, but manager Craig Levein felt his side deserved something from the game.
He said: “I think the penalty was soft, and it’s the thing that split the teams today which is frustrating. If it was at the other end I’d be asking and hoping for a penalty. I said to the players afterwards that when you are where we are in the league, these are the kind of things that can go against you, and it’s how you react that’s important.
“I didn’t raise my voice in the dressing room because the lads are gutted not to take something from the game. We had opportunities, and I feel the players’ frustration as they didn’t do an awful lot wrong today.”