If Saints can win their two games in hand they will move into the top six

St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes praised his players for the manner in which they outfought Aberdeen in their 1-0 Scottish Premier League win.

"It's a fantastic result. The effort from the players from minute one was outstanding," said the Saints boss, whose team sit seventh in the table.

"It looked like a cup final for our players and they were terrific.

"We have given ourselves a chance of going for something higher than we could have imagined."

Cillian Sheridan was on hand to tap the ball beyond Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield after the Dons keeper had saved Danny Grainger's stinging volley.

McInnes, speaking to Radio Scotland after the final whistle, said: "Aberdeen are a strong side, they have some talented players, and I knew we would have to play well and work hard for the result.

"Three or four chances went a-begging but I felt confident we could keep a clean sheet.

"You can't give good players time to enjoy the game. We wanted to make sure it was cup football.

"I was delighted to get one goal and tonight one goal was enough."

Only Rangers and Celtic have scored more than McInnes's side, who are only three points off sixth-placed Hearts, the Jambos having played two games more.

With relegation no longer looking plausible, McInnes admitted to casting a glance in the opposite direction in the league table.

"At the start of the season it was all about staying in the SPL," he said.

"Now we don't want to let all the good work go for nothing. We want to keep working hard.

"The players have shown a capacity to play at this level and they are all enjoying it.

"The three games we had in hand - the Hibs game a few weeks ago, Falkirk on Saturday and now this one - that's nine points we have picked up.

"The fact we have managed to turn those into points means we can start to look towards that top six."

And he added: "We have a tough game on Saturday against Celtic at Parkhead but we've got Falkirk and Hamilton next Tuesday and Saturday.

"We know with these games coming up we have given ourselves a chance of going for something higher than we could have imagined."

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