Aberdeen have answered most questions this season but there remains a couple that must be addressed

And for some inexplicable reason, St Johnstone, who they face this weekend, are Aberdeen's bogey side. However, McInnes and his merry men in red are more than capable of proving such slip-ups are a thing of the past.

After Christmas, home draws with Inverness and Partick Thistle meant Aberdeen stayed second. It was an open goal, two of them in fact, and they missed. So the question remains; will they miss again?

“Both performances were strong," said McInnes when he looked back on the dropped four points. “The actual performances weren’t too different from games where we have won.

“Yes, we didn’t get the wins we were looking for but we are not miles better than anyone else. We can’t be well off it and expect to win games. Nothing has changed from that view.”

So why is it Aberdeen, who can beat Celtic twice, have won only once against the men from Perth over the last seven games? It is an odd thing and something that has to be dealt with this afternoon, or they will let Celtic off the hook again.

“St Johnstone over the last two seasons have managed to cause us problems," said McInnes. "They are a good side, they have been the top half of the table, won a cup and been in Europe over the last few seasons. Tommy (Wright) has a lot of good boys to work with there. They have a good thing going on.

“We know that when we are up against good teams, very rarely can we not perform at our best and get results. St Johnstone would come into that category.

“They know they can beat us and if they play well will have every chance. It will be a tough game but one we have to look forward to. We are unbeaten in the league now for three months. That’s good form and it’s important we maintain that, work hard and if we can then we will get the results we are looking for.”

In some ways, it is now simple for Aberdeen. They know what has to be done, the time they have to do it in and that it is within them to to keep an unbeaten run, stretching back eleven league game, going for..well there is another question. We will soon find out the answer.

“The good thing is that it’s a 14 game season we are down to now," said McInnes, "We’ve already had a great eight game winning run and we’re now on 11 unbeaten so we’ve shown in the past two-and-a-half years that we are capable of going on runs.

“Hopefully this one continues as long as possible and we are looking forward to the next game. When you don’t lose games you can feel a confidence within the team and with that comes expectation - but expectation has always been there at this club to be honest."

McInnes can come across as a bit dour - he is in fact anything but - and he does straight bat every question regarding whether his team are title challengers. Indeed, he shuddered at the mention of that phrase.

But he should be enjoying this. It is already a wonderful season for his club and one that could end up as one of the greatest, easily comparable to just about anything Sir Alex Ferguson achieved.

But the current manager admitted: "I don’t think managers get to enjoy it too much. It’s just the way it is. As soon as a game is over you can maybe enjoy the immediate aftermath of a result, and watching your players celebrate and everyone getting a reward for all the work that goes in. That is what we are here for.

“It is very short-lived in our industry. You have to make sure you are ready for the next one because a defeat is just around the next corner if you don’t keep your focus and look towards the next challenge.

“I am not looking at anything else other than us trying to maintain our form. I can sit here and say whatever but talk is cheap. What we do is important and all we can do is to try and keep winning our games and form.

“Hopefully, we can do that between now and the end of the season but that will be a tough enough challenge without worrying about anything else.”

It is not Aberdeen who should be worrying.