Livingston moved three points clear of Bank of Scotland Premier League bottom club Dunfermline after a goalless draw with Aberdeen at Almondvale.

Neither side created a chance in the entire first period in a poor advert for top-flight Scottish football - and the second half was only marginally better.

Paul Dalglish and Jason Dair went close for Paul Lambert's side, while Stevie Crawford wasted the best chance for the Dons.

But, with the Pars' game at Dundee United postponed, Livi accepted the chance to capitalise.

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood dropped Zander Diamond and drafted Richard Foster into midfield.

And he restored Darren Mackie to the starting line-up alongside Crawford, with Jamie Winter dropping to the bench.

Lambert recalled himself in place of the suspended Allan Walker in midfield as he made his first start since the end of October and Roddy McKenzie replaced the injured Ludovic Roy in goal.

The opening 10 minutes did little to warm the sparse crowd, the only moment which caused anxiety at either end being a weak 20-yard effort from Dons winger Jamie Smith.

It was not until the quarter-hour mark that the first excitement arrived and even then it was a mistake from visiting keeper Jamie Langfield.

The Dons keeper miscontrolled a back-pass from Smith, allowing Dave Mackay to block his clearance but, fortunately for Langfield, it spun just clear of Livi striker Dalglish.

The only other moment of interest in a forgettable opening 30 minutes was Langfield's dash from his box to clear - the Livi fans believing he had done so with his hand, but the referee decided he had indeed used his head.

Crawford's lamentable strike from 20 yards in the 33rd minute summed up the game to that point.

The half ended with an extremely bad tackle from Dons captain Russell Anderson on Livi's Harald Pinxten, which went unpunished by referee Dougie McDonald.

Diamond entered the fray at half-time in place of Andrew Considine.

Calderwood also moved Kevin McNaughton from right-back into midfield in a direct swap with Barry Nicholson.

Lambert lasted just five minutes of the second period before being replaced by the fit-again Neil Barrett.

Twelve minutes into the half, Livi created the best chance of the half when Dalglish - watched by his father, Kenny - latched on to Pinxten's flick but snatched at his shot and dragged it into the side-netting.

A minute later, Aberdeen enjoyed their best chance to date, Nicholson cleverly picking out Crawford but the Scotland striker lobbed the ball straight at McKenzie.

Livi almost opened the scoring four minutes later, but Jason Dair's close-range effort - after good work from Robert Snodgrass - was saved with his legs by Langfield.

Calderwood then replaced the ineffective Mackie with John Stewart in a bid to find a winner.

Lambert made his second switch when he took off Dair and brought on Martin Scott in the 76th minute and Calderwood made his final change when the anonymous Crawford was replaced by Scott Muirhead.

With the relative flurry of chances at the start of the second period now a distant memory, Lambert made his last substitution 10 minutes from time as James McPake came on for Dalglish.

Five minutes from time, Nicholson headed a Livi corner onto the top of his own bar and from the follow-up Gabor Vincze's 15-yard volley was well handled by Langfield.

Teams:

Livingston McKenzie, Mackay, Strong, Pinxten, Tierney, Brittain, Vincze, Lambert (Neil Barrett 51), Dair (Scott 75), Snodgrass, Dalglish (McPake 82).

Subs Not Used: Woods, Tesevic, Geggan, Boyd.

Booked: Neil Barrett.

Aberdeen Langfield, McNaughton, Anderson, Smith, Nicholson, Mackie (Stewart 63), Clark, Byrne, Foster, Considine (Diamond 45), Crawford (Muirhead 79).

Subs Not Used: Esson, Dempsey, Winter, Macauley.

Booked: Anderson, Clark, Diamond.

Att: 3,724

Ref: D McDonald (Scotland).