Derek McInnes leads his St. Johnstone side out at McDiarmid Park hoping to end a three game winless streak against Aberdeen tonight.

Having lost 4-0 against Rangers last Sunday, McInnes will hope for a better outcome against the side they beat 1-0 back in November last year.

The 9th and 10th placed clubs in the SPL go head to head level on points and this is reflecting in the pre-match football betting, with no clear favourite emerging. The Saints will bypass both Aberdeen and Hibernian in 8th place with a win, and with two games in hand over some of the clubs directly above them, they will have one eye on a top 6 finish.

Michael Duberry will miss the game with a groin strain that is likely to rule him out for around 6 weeks, while Kevin Moon, Chris Millar and Jamie Adams and Sam Parkin will also miss out, with Parkin unlikely to feature for the rest of the season.

Aberdeen should prove to be a difficult task for St. Johnstone, and are unbeaten in their last three matches. Their recent 0-0 draw against Hearts, who are threatening to break the Old Firm monopoly, will likely provide a confidence boost for Craig Brown’s men for tonight’s match.

Aberdeen’s Chris Maguire will miss the game through suspension and defender Zander Diamond is a major doubt with an ankle injury.

Innes is hopeful of using the game against Aberdeen as a springboard to kick-start St. Johnstone’s push for a top-half finish. While football bets placed so far deem it unlikely, with Motherwell in 7th place on 37 points, if they can put together a run of results they could soon see their league position improve dramatically.

He said: “I think Kilmarnock will stay with the Old Firm and Hearts, and Dundee United have games in hand and will maybe be favourites to reach the top six, so that means there is one slot available with five teams looking for it.

“To have that opportunity to get there is great testament to my players. We haven’t quite reached them (expectations prior to the season) yet but it is difficult to be critical of them”, he added.