St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright was overjoyed after his side battled to a 1-0 win over goal-shy Aberdeen, and admits he is pleased to see his side enjoy defending again.

The visitors held Aberdeen at arm's length after Ali McCann's early goal on the counter-attack and were rewarded with a bit of luck as Niall McGinn's free-kick in the final minute came off a post – the closest the home side came to levelling.

Wright said: "Every win is joyous. We got a wonderful goal – an exquisite finish and it just oozes class. Ali is getting better and better.

"We got a bit of luck at the end but we've not had a lot of luck, so maybe that's changing.

"I think it's significant that we've closed the gap to Hibs above us to three points. We won't get carried away because we've had bad runs before and things can change quickly.

"We look as if we're enjoying defending at times now. Jamie McCart has slotted in well. There's a lot of pressure on him because we've paid money for him, but he's handled it well."

Dons boss Derek McInnes admits he perhaps gambled with his line-up as he considered Saturday's Scottish Cup tie against Kilmarnock.

He said: "I gambled a bit tonight, putting Ronald Hernandez in. He maybe needs a bit more time to adjust. I gambled with leaving Funso Ojo out as he felt a wee bit of tightness in his hamstring. We feel we may not see the best of Niall McGinn with three games in a week.

"I gave others opportunities and you'd have to say people didn't take it, and as a consequence it was a tough night.

"We haven't lost any ground but we've certainly lost the confidence and any positives from a very good performance at Ibrox. I was expecting with the changes for us to go and build on that."