Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes remains wary of St Johnstone despite their poor run of form.
The Perth Saints ended a nine-match winless sequence on Saturday when Tam Scobbie’s injury-time winner gave the McDiarmid Park men a much-needed 2-1 victory against Motherwell.
But Tommy Wright’s side followed up their first win since the start of December with a morale-sapping 2-0 defeat by Partick Thistle on Tuesday.
It means the Perth Saints have taken only five points from a possible 27, having been knocked out of both cup competitions last month.
Their form may have dipped but St Johnstone were 5-1 winners on their last visit to Pittodrie in October and McInnes is refusing to take his former side lightly.
He said: “They are a good team, a top-six team and sides that finish in the top six don’t normally go that long without a win.
“We knew that run without a win was going to come to an end at some point. The only surprise was it took them so long.
“They are a good, experienced team and we always have a tough game against them.
“We have got to make sure our motivation between now and the end of the season is clear.
“We want to see that in the performance against St Johnstone.”
The Dons avenged their 5-1 loss against the Perth Saints this month with a 4-3 win at McDiarmid Park.
An Adam Rooney double sandwiched between strikes from Peter Pawlett and Niall McGinn had put the Dons 4-1 in front before late consolation goals from Steven Anderson and Scobbie.
McInnes knows the 5-1 loss still lingers in the memory but he is confident his side can inflict a second defeat on the Perth Saints in a month.
He added: “Every time we go to play St Johnstone we are reminded of that game. We analysed that one at the time.
“I would rather concentrate on the victory we had against them a couple of weeks ago. That is going to be more relevant going into the next one.”
Meanwhile, Aberdeen will face Partick Thistle at Firhill on Tuesday, March 8, at 7.45pm.
The teams were due to meet last Friday but the Firhill pitch failed a late pitch inspection.