St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has come to the defence of under-fire Tayside derby referee Bobby Madden.
The Dundee camp felt aggrieved that David Clarkson wasn’t awarded an early penalty in Saturday clash with Saints at Dens Park, and that goalkeeper Alan Mannus wasn’t sent off.
The fact that the Dark Blues striker received a booking for diving only added to their fury.
After watching the incident on television, Wright is still of the opinion that there was enough doubt about the coming together of the two players to vindicate Madden’s decision.
And he also exonerated him for not awarding Saints a first-half penalty for James McPake pulling Frazer Wright down in the box.
“It was a difficult game to referee,” Wright said. “There were a few contentious decisions to make but I’m not going to criticise Bobby Madden.
“He has to make his decisions instantly. He was strong and made honest decisions. We all bemoan decisions but they are honest decisions and we always have to remember that. They have very difficult job.
“Of course we can analyse every decision, slow them down and look over them but I can see reasons why he didn’t give a penalty for Clarkson.
“There is contact, not a lot though. The player isn’t in control of the ball so even if he had given a penalty it wouldn’t have been a red card for Alan Mannus.
“I was concerned of course, because you don’t know what the decision is going to be. But the contact was minimal. Alan put his hand up to get the ball, didn’t get a touch and the referee reads it as Clarkson running into him rather than the other way around.
“He could quite easily have given a penalty but the forward has maybe made the most of it.
“There was obviously an element of doubt in his mind so the referee made the right decision. We are quick to criticise when they gamble on a decision.”
The Northern Irishman added: “The referee was blocked out by a number of players so he couldn’t spot the tug on Frazer’s shirt – maybe he could get a little help there from his assistant – and the (Greg) Stewart claim wasn’t a penalty.
“Frazer’s was the most blatant of them all but the referee can’t see it. If we had officials behind the goal they’d have seen it but the refs here don’t have that luxury.”
Saints were a vastly improved team after the break, and the introduction of Simon Lappin and David Wotherspoon clearly had an impact.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story, Wright pointed out.
He said: “Lappin and Wotherspoon will get credit because they came on and did very well but I think the big difference was that everyone played better in that second half.
“We were giving the ball away too much in that first half, in bad areas. We passed the ball better and got players higher up the pitch. We kept them reined in.
“It was as good a 45 minutes as we’ve had this season.
“That is three unbeaten going into the break. There are a few doom and gloom merchants out there but we are unbeaten in our last three games, with two of them away from home against Partick and Dundee.
“Thistle had won four in a row at home and Dundee were going for their fourth win in a row. Motherwell are in false position as Friday’s win over Dundee United showed.
“We know we still have to get better. We aren’t jumping the gun.
“As a team we have been a bit below par. Individual mistakes were creeping in. The lads always seemed confident but maybe some belief had been lost. But little mistakes were costing us.
“But that second half was back to the standards we are looking for.
“We are set up a little different his year because we don’t have Stevie May to run in behind. We have to pass it better to get up the pitch and get into wide areas for crosses. We did that in the second half.”
Wright confirmed that James McFadden had bene left out as a precaution.
“He felt his hamstring,” the Saints boss reported. “If he had played and had a problem we could have risked him being out for four to six weeks.
“We could have got away with it but he will be 100% for the Ross County game.”
Murray Davidson will also be available for the next match.