Saints gaffer Jim Goodwin has revealed he never wants to be predictable when it comes to his formations, after a tactical tweak last weekend saw his men leave the capital with a point.
The Buddies boss was impressed with the way Jamie McGrath and Conor Ronan supported Eamonn Brophy, in a three pronged attack favoured over the traditional two up top.
The system helped the Paisley side nab a 2-2 draw against Hibs, with Goodwin admitting he was frustarted his side hadn't scored more.
But that doesn't mean he'll stick with the same gameplan week on week, as he hopes the element of surprise will be in his favour against Aberdeen tomorrow.
He said: “We worked on a system before the Hibs game that we felt could cause them problems and give us the best opportunity of pressing them high up the pitch.
"So we went with the loan striker, Brophy, with two numbers tens supporting him. We've got the luxury within the group of being quite flexible from one week to the next.
"I don't want us to be predictable. I don't want the opposition managers to know what we're going to do from one week to the next.
"Sometimes people will say you stick to the one formation and just keep working on it, but we don't see the benefit of doing that.
"Sometimes you have to respect the oppostion and need to pick a system that gives you the best chance of getting a result. It did, almost.
We got our noses in front and then lost a couple of cheap goals but showed good character to get back in the game.
"I'm not saying what way I'm going this weekend but that system certainly worked. I thought McGrath and Connor Ronan were excellent supporting Eamonn Brophy, but we'll wait and see which way we decide to go.”
Goodwin says he never lacked the belief that his side could get something from their trip to Edinburgh last weekend, even after Hibs reversed a half time deficit to lead 2-1.
Goals from Paul McGinn and a Martin Boyle spot kick turned the game around for the Easter Road outfit after Brophy fired past Matt Macy to give send the Buddies in 1-0 up at the break.
With the game looking like it was going to slip away from Saints, captain Joe Shaugnessy popped up from open play to head in a high quality cross from Scott Tanser, with two minutes remaining.
But Goodwin was still disappointed his men only travelled back to Paisley with one point.
He added: “I have great belief in the group and I knew they wouldn't throw the towel in when it went 2-1 to Hibs. But, I’ll be honest, I felt more frustration than satisfaction at the end of the game as I genuinely believed that we should have had more than one goal at half-time.
“The manner of the goals we conceded was a big disappointment and the second one was a soft penalty. In those big moments in games, those big decisions from officials you need them.“
