Aberdeen lost ground on Celtic at the top of the table after being held to a 2-2 draw at Hamilton.

With Celtic beating St Johnstone earlier in the day, the Hoops have extended their lead to three points at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership after Derek McInnes' side were held in what could be his last game with the club.

McInnes has been linked with the vacant Rangers job after doing a fine job at Pittodrie, but his side were not at their best at the SuperSeal Stadium.

After Dougie Imrie's opener, Aberdeen clawed their way into the lead through goals from Greg Stewart and Kari Arnason but David Templeton equalised to earn a share of the points.

It was a slow start to the match, with the hosts, fresh from a welcome win over Dundee, happy to sit behind the ball and look to catch the Dons on the break.

Aberdeen were lacking in fluency however, and struggled to string together any sort passes that were likely to test the Accies defence, and at times looked as though they were struggling to get to grips with the artificial surface.

It took a skilful piece of play from Templeton on the edge of the area to break the deadlock after he was brought down by Scott McKenna before Imrie curled in beautifully from 20 yards.

Templeton could have doubled the lead minutes later however, volleying wide when unmarked inside the area after a pinpoint cross on the run from Darren Lyon.

He was made to pay almost instantly, as Aberdeen got the ball back in play and Graeme Shinnie, who this week earned a Scotland call-up, played through Stewart and he lifted delicately over Gary Woods.

From thereon, Aberdeen began to dominate but were unable to make it count before the break as they struggled to find the right final ball.

Home manager Martin Canning would have been pleased to go in a one each at the break, and the game returned to a slow pace after half-time.

Once again it was Templeton who sparked proceedings into life, breaking from a Dons corner before exchanging passes with Antonio Rojano and dragging narrowly wide.

Joe Lewis almost got himself in trouble from the resulting goal-kick as Lyon found himself through on goal and rounded the keeper, before he was forced wide and hit into the side netting.

However, it was Iceland international Arnason who got the third goal, heading powerfully past Woods from a Stevie May corner to the delight of the travelling fans.

Canning responded by bringing on Danny Redmond and he had an instant impact, laying the ball off for Templeton who drilled his shot past Lewis with his weaker foot moments later for a well-deserved goal to make it 2-2, which proved enough for a point despite late pressure from the visitors.