Levein insists his troubled team can turn the tide
Craig Levein watched his side sink to second-bottom in the Premiership but insists struggling St Johnstone can still beat the drop.
Bojan Miovski’s 68th-minute penalty winner for Aberdeen saw the Perth club fall two points behind Ross County with just three games to go.
Despite that, their optimistic manager remains defiantly convinced that a team that have won just three of their last 19 games can achieve that feat.
The runs started at Livingston followed by a visit from Ross County and a trip to Motherwell on the final day with no wiggle room left.
Ironically, it was former Aberdeen star Andy Considine who conceded the spot-kick that Levein thought harsh but he is demanding the right reaction from his players.
He said: “I said to the players that, if you are where we are in the league and fighting for survival, these things can go against you.
“It’s how you respond that is most important. I consider we’ve played the best two teams in the bottom six. If we win all three games we will be fine as we have a decent record against Ross County and Livingston, we’ve drawn all three against Motherwell.
“I didn’t raise my voice in the dressing room because the lads were gutted not to get anything from the game.
“We have to roll our sleeves up, have another good week’s training and see if we can put on a decent performance.”
Aberdeen’s first win in four attempts against St Johnstone was enough to finally confirm they wouldn’t be drawn in to a relegation play-off.
It also extended their best league run of the season to six games, even though caretaker boss Peter Leven wasn’t there to see it.
He was still in hospital recovering from Friday’s emergency hip surgery, but would be feeling less pain after watching the side over a live feed.
Leven congratulated his players afterwards over a video link and latest stand-in Scott Anderson, the Dons Under-18 coach, revealed it will soon be business as usual.
Anderson said: “Peter is fine and on the mend and he hopes to be back on the training pitch next week. Health comes first and we knew he had to go in last night. It was a bit of a shock but everything is fine.
“I’m pleased we could get over the line and I was pleased with the second half in particular.
“We created chances and as we have done in previous games we got another clean sheet. It was a positive reaction.
“The players all hold Peter in high regard and part of their efforts was to make sure they got the three points and gave Peter something to smile about.”