St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson kept his own counsel about the performance of referee Craig Thomson after his side's 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The visitors felt they were harshly punished for John Potter's foul on Darren Mackie that led to Charlie Mulgrew's late free-kick winner, with defender Lee Mair shown a second yellow for dissent following the goal.

"There is no point talking about it," said MacPherson. "There is no point saying our opinion on the referee's performance because he is untouchable. He is the top referee in the country. I'm disappointed with a few things, that is all I will say about it."

MacPherson did hint that the whistler does not enjoy taking charge of matches involving the Buddies.

"He is the top referee but in his own admission he doesn't enjoy St Mirren games," he said. "You would have to ask him why, I can't answer that."

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee praised Mulgrew for his majestic free-kick that gave the Dons their first home win of the season.

"We have a trump card at the moment with Charlie as his left foot is a wand," said McGhee.

"Any free-kick around the box is like a penalty for us. I don't know about anyone else but when we were awarded it I sat down as I thought the most likely outcome was that it would be in the back of the net and I think we are lucky to have that."

McGhee was also delighted with Sone Aluko's performance following his return from a Nigeria Under-20 World Cup camp after initially leaving without his club's permission. The player will now jet off to play in the tournament that starts in Egypt on Thursday.

"It was pleasing to see all the boys give him a good send-off and a round of applause and we wished him all the best," he said. "We appreciate what a hard week it has been for him and he has come back and done the business."