Ferguson penalty rescues point for Aberdeen against St Johnstone

A second-half penalty from Lewis Ferguson rescued a point for Aberdeen against the Premiership’s bottom side St Johnstone at Pittodrie.

The home-crowd had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their first game since the departure of Stephen Glass who left his role as manager after the weekend’s Scottish Cup defeat to Motherwell.

A goal from Callum Hendry in the sixth minute of the game meant the Perth side went into the second-half with a 1-0 lead.

Defeat could have dragged the Dons, who move above Livingston into eighth with the point, into a relegation fight with the visitors, Dundee and Ross County.

And a win would have moved Callum Davidson’s men off bottom but the equaliser 20 minutes from time means the can only close the gap to Dundee to a point.

Former Celtic, Dundee United and Scotland midfielder Barry Robson took charge of the team on a caretaker basis, but was unable to stem Aberdeen’s poor run of form that cost Glass his job.

The Dons, who have been a consistent top four side for the last decade, now face a fight to secure a place in the top six.

They are currently two points off the top half and play Motherwell fifth placed Motherwell on Saturday.

St Johnstone host third placed Hearts at the weekend in their continued battle to beat the drop.