The Dons manager remains a far from universally appreciated figure among the supporters, but the money men at Pittodrie are enthusiastically singing his praises at the moment.

That follows recently announced record operating profits of over £2.3million last season when the club progressed to the last 32 of the Uefa Cup and the semi-finals of both national cup competitions.

Turnover soared by more than £5million from the previous year and debt was nearly halved to £6.5million at a time when Aberdeen are attempting to fund the construction of a new stadium.

What those figures do emphasise though is the importance of Aberdeen recovering quickly from a disappointing start to the current campaign to earn a return to European football next season.

However, as Calderwood prepares for tonight's visit from St Mirren, the Aberdeen manager made it clear he is more interested in collecting silverware than collecting cash.

He said: "It's great for the club that we could generate so much more money, but I don't want to be remembered as the man who brought an extra £5million in for one season. I would rather be remembered as the manager who took Aberdeen into Europe on a regular basis by finishing third in the league and getting us to cup finals. "It is good to see the money men at the club with a smile on their faces again, but it's really only about winning football matches as far I am concerned.

"If you can do that, then everyone at the football club is happy and not just the bank manager, but we are not naive in these matters and know how important it is financially to get back into Europe again."

Victory tonight would certainly help as defeat at Tannadice last Saturday left Aberdeen trailing third-placed Dundee United by five points, the same margin as the advantage they held over their north-east rivals when they last met in September. Poor home form has been the most significant factor for such a dramatic turnaround with a solitary victory over Kilmarnock providing the only win in six matches at Pittodrie so far this season.

They have lost as many games at home during the current campaign as they did in 28 matches in all competitions in the highly lucrative previous one with Calderwood only too painfully aware of where the problems lie for his team.

He added: "We have only let in 14 goals in 12 games, but nine of those have been our own stupid fault and that has to end against St Mirren. We dominated both games against Dundee United, but they beat us with goals that have been a comedy of errors from us. Even two draws would have seen us above them in the league by now."

Andrew Considine and Lee Mair are back in the squad after missing the defeat against Dundee United with a virus, but Bertrand Bossu, Tommy Wright, Stuart Duff and Jamie Smith are still out.

St Mirren defender Scott Cuthbert returns to the squad for the trip north tonight after missing Saturday's home defeat to Hearts after suffering from flu-like symptoms.