ST JOHNSTONE have been praised for ensuring the bulk of the Red Army were saved a wasted journey to Perth.

Saints organised an 8am pitch inspection at McDiarmid Park to ensure early notice that their Premiership clash with the Dons had been called off because of a waterlogged pitch.

Dons boss Derek McInnes applauded his old club for making sure the Aberdeen fans didn’t have to travel in severe weather conditions.

He said: “We had concerns about the game going ahead when we travelled down the day before and saw how bad the weather was in the Perth area.

“I know the pitch at McDiarmid Park from my time there as manager.

“I know how difficult it would have been for it to fend off the amount of rain that had fallen on it over the last few days.

“I’m glad they did the sensible thing and got it inspected as early as they possibly could.

“It meant the majority of our fans were saved from having to set off for Perth. Fans should always come first in these sort of situations.”

McInnes opted to give his players the rest of Sunday off. But they will be back in training for the rest of the week to prepare for Saturday’s Scottish Cup clash with Hearts at Tynecastle.