Aberdeen laboured to a goalless draw with St Mirren in Paisley.
There was precious little to shout about for the Dons, with only a first-half penalty shout on Sam Cosgrove a potential game-changer.
The addition of Matty Kennedy did not provide the spark manager Derek McInnes needed from his side, as they failed to score at St Mirren for the second time this season.
Aberdeen handed a debut to new signing Kennedy, who completed his move from St Johnstone on Friday and came into the side at Jon Gallagher’s expense.
The visitors were beaten on their last visit to Paisley but threatened first in this encounter, with Ash Taylor planting a header wide from Niall McGinn’s corner.
Northern Ireland international McGinn nearly profited from a poor pass from Vaclav Hladky, nipping in ahead of defender Akin Famewo to steal possession but the St Mirren man recovered in time to block the shot.
Aberdeen should have had a penalty before the half-hour but referee Don Robertson ignored their pleas, despite Conor McCarthy appearing to hold on to Sam Cosgrove’s shirt for 10 yards before hauling him down in the box.
Scott McKenna was teed up by Lewis Ferguson soon after but the centre-back saw his attempt deflected over, as the Dons huffed and puffed without forcing Hladky into a save.
As an attacking force St Mirren had been negligible in the first period but Dylan McGeouch nearly gift-wrapped them the opener four minutes before the break.
With little thought, the midfielder attempted a pass back towards Joe Lewis but only found Jon Obika, with the Dons fortunate the ex-Tottenham youngster only found the post rather than the net.
A tame start to the second half was finally brought to life by a driving run from Ilkay Durmus, who had the beating of Shay Logan before whistling a shot just over Lewis’ crossbar.
Substitute Ryan Hedges flashed a long-distance effort wide of Hladky’s goal but the fare on offer did little to convince a winner was coming.