The Dons have had only one win in their last 15 matches

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee has warned his players that they are all on trial until the end of the season.

The Dons boss was speaking after his team lost 3-1 to St Johnstone, their eighth home league defeat this season.

"I've told them they are on trial and there is nobody that isn't threatened in terms of their position," he said.

"But they can all be here next season if in the next five games they do it properly and show the effort and commitment that is required."

Aberdeen have been on a torrid run lately, winning only one of their last 15 matches.

They sit in ninth position in the Scottish Premier League, six points ahead of St Mirren and Falkirk and will play these two teams, plus Kilmarnock, Hamilton and St Johnstone before the season ends.

After the 3-1 defeat by the Saints, McGhee told BBC Scotland: "We didn't see anything new. We know what's missing from the team in terms of personnel and in terms of real desire.

"David Grassi was the only player who was up for a scrap and who was prepared to put himself out to try to win a football match.

"The rest were coasting and didn't hurt enough.

"It's not just the players. I'm culpable as well. It's me who motivates them and clearly they weren't motivated well enough so I have to take responsibility for that."

The Dons boss bristled, though, when asked if the Dons fans could expect that they should be able to beat St Johnstone, given the money spent on the respective squads.

"That's simplistic. That's garbage, actually," McGhee said.

"The amount of money that was on the pitch today wouldn't have been that different from St Johnstone, given that we've got one or two of the young boys involved who aren't earning a lot of money.

"That's a red herring. They had more desire. They are playing well, they have missed out on the top six unluckily.

"The idea that that is where the imbalance is, is wrong at this stage.

"We had three strikers on the park - Steven MacLean, Michael Paton and Darren Mackie.

There are no days off. We are going to work every single day to get this right Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee

"The only other striker I've got is the young boy Grimmer, who is 16 and just starting and nowhere near ready for us. We've got shortages which I've got to address."

The Aberdeen support has become increasingly agitated as the Dons' form has hit a slump. McGhee, though, says that he needs time to reverse the slide.

"I know I'll get it right," he said.

"I've got meetings tomorrow about players and I know that the players I'm trying to bring in will improve things hugely and it won't look like this next season, either in terms of the personnel or the attitude.

"In the long term, I intend to change it and I've got to be given time, if that's what people want, to change it.

"We need more strength in midfield and in other areas as well so that when we do need to change we have more physique and aggression to bring off the bench. There's a lot of work to be done; I know that and the supporters know that as well.

"Given what we saw today we've got a lot of work to do to get back. There are no days off. We are going to work every single day to get this right.

"That is the only solution. We have the same group of players for the Falkirk game that we had today but by next week we have to find a way to get more out of them."

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