Any lingering hope that Aberdeen could drag themselves back into the title race ended last night as the Dons slumped to a third successive away defeat with a 3-0 loss against St Johnstone.
It was a woeful showing from the Dons, who were fortunate to only be two behind at the break.
The Saints were in full control after goals from David Wotherspoon and Steven MacLean, having also hit the crossbar and had another strike wrongly disallowed in a very one-sided opening period.
It got worse after the break as Liam Craig netted a third 10 minutes after the restart to put the result beyond doubt.
The result leaves the Dons eight points adrift of Celtic, who take on Ross County tomorrow, and they will only be five ahead of Hearts if they defeat Motherwell today.
On the same day three years ago, McInnes took charge of Aberdeen for the first time in a meaningless, bottom six 0-0 draw against Hibernian at Easter Road. It is a sign of the progress the Dons have made that they went into this year’s post-split fixtures still with a slim chance of winning the title.
McInnes conceded the title race was over after his side’s 2-1 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle a fortnight ago but this was an opportunity to exert some additional pressure on leaders Celtic ahead of their meeting with Ross County on Sunday.
St Johnstone, however, have proven to be a difficult obstacle for the Dons to overcome this term. A 5-1 humiliation at Pittodrie – still the most bamboozling result of Aberdeen’s campaign – was followed by a narrow 4-3 victory at McDiarmid Park and a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie.
With Ash Taylor missing through injury, 20-year-old Michael Rose was a surprise debutant for the Dons, while Andrew Considine returned in place of Craig Storie.
Aberdeen made a nervy start and almost fell behind inside six minutes when a Wotherspoon corner was met by the unmarked Joe Shaughnessy but the defender’s powerful header crashed off the crossbar.
It was no major shock when the Perth Saints took the lead after 14 minutes and it was a goal of high quality. Former Hibernian midfielder Wotherspoon curled an exquisite free kick from 25 yards over the Aberdeen wall and close enough to the corner to beat a despairing Scott Brown.
The Dons supporters, who had travelled down in decent numbers, wanted an immediate response from their side but they almost fell further behind when they were caught on the counter-attack but Chris Millar dragged his shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.
It was a largely shambolic first half display by the Dons, littered with mistakes and poor play, with the hosts enjoying the vast majority of possession and opportunities.
The Saints had the ball in the net for a second time 10 minutes before the break when Steven Anderson slotted home another enticing Wotherspoon corner but the goal was chalked off for a foul on goalkeeper Brown. It looked a very fortunate let-off for the struggling Reds.
But there would be no escape three minutes later when Anderson met a deep free kick from Tom Scobbie allowing MacLean to apply the finishing touch from close range.
The Dons made a change at the break with Rose, far from Aberdeen’s worst player, replaced by Barry Robson as the Dons reverted from a 3-4-3 set-up to a more familiar 4-2-3-1 formation.
But the alteration did not prevent the home side augmenting their advantage 10 minutes after the restart.
Aberdeen’s poor defending was badly exposed again as Graham Cummins set up Craig who had plenty of time to stroke the ball beyond Brown.
Chris Millar and Darnell Fisher both squandered chances to net a fourth for the Saints as the Reds toiled to find their rhythm.
Simon Church, who had cut an isolated figure for much of the proceedings, had a rare sight of goal as time ticked down but his tame effort was easily gathered by Zander Clark.
With the game already lost and many Aberdeen supporters already heading for the exits, McInnes gave another youngster a taste of first team action with Connor MacLennan replacing a disappointing Niall McGinn.
Robson almost netted a consolation goal for the Dons with a well-struck free kick but Saints goalkeeper Zander Clark made a fine save to preserve his clean sheet.
A very disappointing evening for the Dons who will look to respond when Motherwell visit Pittodrie next weekend.
