Nicky Devlin's late header gave disjointed Aberdeen victory over Scottish Premiership bottom side Livingston as their unbeaten run extended to six matches.

Devlin's expertly guided finish from Topi Keskinen's cross masked an otherwise unconvincing performance from Jimmy Thelin's side, but nonetheless gave them a third 1-0 win in four league matches.

Livingston were the more cohesive and threatening side for the majority of the game, particularly in the first half. However, they were foiled by Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov and their own profligacy.

Mitov denied Mahamadou Susoho, Lewis Smith and Tete Yengi, while Daniel Finlayson had an excellent chance to head his side in front, but guided the ball wide.

Aberdeen took until the 76th minute to register an effort on target, when Stuart Armstrong's first-time shot was smothered by Jerome Prior.

Four minutes later, they were in front. Graeme Shinnie forced a mistake from Graham Carey, and Keskinen picked out Devlin at the back post.

The former Livingston defender's precise header into the far corner sparked scenes of unbridled relief among the big Aberdeen away support.

The win moves Thelin's side up to seventh, while Livingston are without a victory in 12 games as they again failed to take full advantage of an encouraging display.

Stability has been the word Thelin has used often in the past two months, with his side moving from the bottom of the league towards the top half on the back of a change to a back-three system.

It has brought five clean sheets in seven league games, and the work of Mitov, and centre-backs Devlin, Jack Milne and Mats Knoester was again pivotal here.

Knoester and Milne made 21 clearances between them in West Lothian, with Mitov contributing three crucial saves, while Devlin popped up with the winner.

The question though is whether stability at the back is enough for a sustainably successful season, because from midfield to attack Aberdeen toiled again.

They have scored just 10 goals in 13 league games, the second lowest in the Premiership. It is the ninth game in a row in all competitions they have failed to score more than one goal.

They are bottom of most attacking metrics and against Livingston their passing let them down regularly, ending with accuracy of 73% as they struggled to create chances until the final quarter when substitutes freshened things up.

Thelin's squad are now entering a run of six games in 18 days before Christmas, which will test whether their upturn is a sign of a successful season to come, or a flattering sequence of results.

Livingston have the opposite problem. They play well most weeks but cannot turn performances into victories.

Here they had 10 shots inside Aberdeen's box but could not convert any of them, and they have lapses in concentration which repeatedly cost them, having conceded the joint most goals in the league.

Carey's inability to see the ball behind for a goal kick, and the lack of focus to mark Devlin at the back post was costly.

Martindale can point to his fair share of bad luck this season, but the longer they go without a win the harder it will be to rally his side.

Livingston manager David Martindale: "It's a difficult one to take. It was the same last week [against Rangers] but I papered over the cracks with the decision which went against us.

"But we've got to do better in the game, we should take something. We had a lot of control, good entries into the final third.

"But we shoot ourselves in the foot with a bad decision in a wide area which leads to the goal. And we're not picking up in the box when we should be picking up."

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "Livingston played really well in the first half, with a lot of movement and did a lot of good things with some good chances.

"We stayed in the game and in the second half we slowly grew into the game and there was more balance betwen the teams.

"We had some good transitions. They were good with their link-up play when they used the striker. Tete Yengi was really good today.

"But defending well again gave us a chance to win the game, even when they were better in the first half."

Livingston sit out the midweek round of Premiership fixtures, next visiting in-form Motherwell on Saturday (15:00 GMT). Aberdeen host St Mirren on Wednesday (19:45).