Aberdeen's troubles in front of goal continued as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Motherwell at Pittodrie.
The Dons had scored just three times in their previous eight fixtures and looked unlikely to address that statistic against an in-form Darren Randolph in the Motherwell goal.
And it could have been worse for the hosts had referee Kevin Clancy not waved away Zaine Francis-Angol's late penalty claims after he went to ground in the Aberdeen box.
Scott Vernon returned to lead the Dons attack and he had their best chances in the first half but he headed his first wide and saw a similar effort saved by Randolph on the half hour.
Tom Hateley went closest for the visitors when his 20-yard free-kick drew a diving save from Jamie Langfield.
Randolph was called into action again soon after the restart with a good stop from Niall McGinn's angled drive while Jonathan Hayes was wayward with a low shot after making room for himself.
James McFadden had a quiet game for the visitors with his only contribution of note a 20-yard free-kick which was never going to trouble Rudolph.
But the Motherwell keeper had to be alert shortly after the hour to beat away a superb effort on the turn from Josh Magennis moments after he came off the bench.
Despite Aberdeen creating most of the chances they were almost undone late on as Nicky Law raced into the area only to scuff his shot straight at Langfield.
And two minutes from time Francis-Angol thought he had won a penalty when he was caught by Joe Shaughnessy but Clancy was unmoved by his appeals.
