Aberdeen made it five games without a win after a frustrating 1-1 draw with St Johnstone at sodden Pittodrie.
Still sitting second in the William Hill Premier League, the Dons looked to bounce back from a testing run but fell behind to a simple Makenzie Kirk finish, before Leighton Clarkson leveled 10 minutes from time. break
Aberdeen showed three changes from the side that beat Celtic near midweek with Nicky Devlin, Topi Keskinen and Duk all brought to the bench.
Saints made the same number of changes after beating Rangers last weekend, although one of those was a late change after defender Bozo Mikulic pulled up in the warm-up.
The Dons started on the front foot but for their possession they struggled to create clear chances, but when Jack Milne burst forward just after a quarter of an hour to set up a counter, Kevin Nisbet was unlucky to be crowded .
St Johnstone had not offered much but they looked to cause trouble at the break, and after 25 minutes they took the lead in strange circumstances.
Aberdeen left-back Jimmy McGarry found himself in the middle and in trying to cut out Nicky Clark's cross, he managed to bounce the ball off his own face, leaving Kirk with a simple finish past Ross Doohan.
Kirk could have added a second as he outran the Dons defense with a long ball, but Gavin Molloy recovered well to avoid the danger.
With Josh Rae still unproven in the Saints goal, the visitors came alive with a scare late in the first half and a free-kick from Clarkson just eluded Sivert Heltne Nilsen in front of goal, and Slobodan Rubezic could not to go back on the front.
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin was clearly unhappy with his side's performance and made three changes at the break, with immediate effect.
Duk was one of three to get into the act and within 10 minutes he had equalized, getting to the byline before pulling back for Clarkson to head home from six yards.
The Dons looked more direct now, and with Duk extending the play, it looked like they could find pockets of space around the box.
Milne's cross was almost caught by Rae who almost crashed into the near post, and the keeper had to be alert again to push away Clarkson's quick curling effort .
With 15 minutes remaining, Doohan got down calmly to deny Kyle Cameron as the defender latched onto a loose ball for the visitors.
Aberdeen threw on Keskinen and Vicente Besuijen as they looked for a second goal, but the visitors defended strongly to grab a well-earned point.
What the managers said…
Aberdeen leader Jimmy Thelin: “I think our performance was not the best we've had this season. He didn't have the energy or the intensity that we want to play with.
“Our support has been amazing this season, but today I can understand a bit of frustration – in normal football, sometimes when you have high expectations.
“We have to stick together, try to push our limits and get better every week we train and play. The game against Celtic was really good and we just couldn't find a way show the same energy today.”
St Johnstone leader Simo Valakari: “We played really well. The only thing we focus on is competing and playing and trying to play as well as we can – the results will come.
“Are we disappointed to only take one point? Maybe. But we always respect the result, and I'm so happy with the performance of our players – how they played with and without the ball against a senior team.
“We looked tough and defended poorly at times. There were times when we played good football too.
“The performance provides a platform from which results can come, so I'm very happy.”
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