Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has admitted that his side deserved to drop points against St Johnstone following their 1-1 draw at McDiarmid Park.

The Dons saw their title challenge suffer a setback last night as they were held by the Saints.

Simon Lappin gave the hosts a first-half lead before Adam Rooney salvaged a point for the visitors on 57 minutes.

While insisting that his side improved their performance in the second half, McInnes believes that they did not do enough to come away with the three points.

"I think the performance was not good enough to get all three," he told BBC Sport. "I thought St Johnstone were the better team for the first half an hour.

"They were far more aggressive than us and we were a wee bit out of sorts and never really got going. In saying that, we still had chances in the first half, but I feel we were far better in the second half.

"Overall, we know it is a difficult place to come and a difficult place to come and win and the performance had to be better to win. As hard as the players worked, as committed as they were, I don't think the performance was quite at the level that we hoped for."

The result has seen Aberdeen draw level on points with leaders Celtic, but the reigning champions have two games in hand.