ABERDEEN are heading for their worst SPL finish since 2004 after an insipid 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park last night.
The Dons, who have now gone 10 matches without a victory, need a minor miracle to reach the top half of the table before the split in five matches.
Mark McGhee’s men are seven points behind sixth-place Hearts and now four points behind the Saints after the Perth club sealed victory thanks to Cillian Sheridan’s first-half winner. Saints have a game in hand on the Dons.
After five consecutive finishes in the top six, McGhee’s Reds are now simply hoping to avoid the second-bottom placing achieved in the 2003/04 campaign under the fraught stewardship of Steve Paterson.
Aberdeen’s ineptitude in front of goal plus suicidal defending has been apparent all season and it was to again prove a deadly combination in Perth.
Attacker Michael Paton should have given the Dons a 15th-minute lead when he scampered through on goal but instead dragged his shot off target.
The visitors were punished soon after when Sheridan struck from close range.
The former Celtic forward, who McGhee managed during a loan spell at Motherwell, was first to react in the six-yard box after Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield had blocked Danny Grainger’s volley from a Liam Craig corner kick.
Unsurprisingly, the corner kick in the build-up was entirely preventable as defender Jerel Ifil failed to clear the danger under little pressure.
Aberdeen could have fallen further behind and were indebted to Langfield for a superb reflex save to deny Dave Mackay after another corner kick resulted in an uncontested attempt on goal.
The goalkeeper was called on again after the interval to block Kenny Deuchar’s close-range shot as the Dons defence again crumbled.
The visitors could not muster a comeback and their season now lies in tatters.
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