Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes admits his side could have done with Jonny Hayes as they were frustrated by St Johnstone - then revealed he is likely to be without the winger for the next four weeks.
Aberdeen were looking to bounce back from the pain of their Europa League exit at the hands of Maribor in midweek as they took on Tommy Wright's Perth troops.
But their Ladbrokes Premiership opener ended in more disappointment as Saints refused to budge during a hard-fought 0-0 draw at McDiarmid Park.
McInnes left Adam Rooney and Niall McGinn on the bench until the last 25 minutes but admitted he could have done with Hayes - who picked up a hamstring injury on the eve of the Thursday's defeat in Slovenia - for the closing stages.
But now he is facing up to a month without the Irishman after scans revealed the extent of his injury.
The Pittodrie boss said: "I thought we were bright, I thought we passed the ball well in the first half and were the better side.
"In the second half, it became a wee bit tousy as a bit of tiredness crept in.
"That was a game we might have lost last season, getting pushed about and losing a goal.
"So the clean sheet pleases me. The way we stood up physically pleases me. We're just bemoaning the fact that we missed a wee bit of quality in the final third.
"Somebody like Jonny Hayes is very important for that. He is the type of player who could maybe have unlocked the door for us.
"He will probably be out for up to four weeks. So I think we would rule him out until after the international break.
"In saying that, he's been a quick healer in the past. Jonny's four weeks has sometimes been three weeks, so we live in hope with that. But we've got to be careful with a hamstring."
Rooney missed a penalty against Maribor before a mix-up between Graeme Shinnie and goalkeeper Joe Lewis confirmed a 2-1 aggregate defeat, but McInnes was pleased with the way his side responded to that disappointment.
"I can't speak highly enough of them for that," he said.
"We got to our beds at four in the morning on Friday. We then recovered Friday afternoon, brought them in again Saturday and travelled down to Dundee - and the SPFL give us an early kick-off, so we're grateful for that.
"There were a lot of tired minds and we really needed to make sure they were woken up. The support helped. Running out to see 3,000 fans here energised the players.
'We stressed that we couldn't start half asleep, we couldn't start sloppy. The start was exactly what I wanted, we just didn't get the goal I thought our play merited."
Saints had the best two openings of the match but were frustrated when Graham Cummins and Danny Swanson both failed to capitalise.
Boss Wright said: "From a defensive point of view we were solid and even though Aberdeen put pressure on it we stood up to it.
"We had the two best chances of the game but didn't take them.
"There were too many misplaced passes in the top end of the park. I'm happy with a point but there's still work to be done."
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