St Mirren skipper Jim Goodwin is to face trial by TV following their 4-1 Boxing Day success over Dundee United, Courier Sport understands.
Television footage captured Goodwin appearing to catch United winger Stuart Armstrong in the face with his right arm during the first half, although the incident went unpunished by match referee Bobby Madden at the time.
However, it is understood the altercation has now been reported to SFA’s compliance officer Vincent Lunny who could well decide to take retrospective disciplinary action against the 32-year-old.
United were furious earlier this season when they were on the receiving end of trial by TV, with coverage after the match leading to a notice of complaint against Gavin Gunning for “kicking or attempting to kick” Celtic player Virgil van Dijk.
The centre half was given a three-match ban, but United were more incensed that it was the TV coverage rather than the referee’s report from the game that resulted in Gunning being cited.
United boss Jackie McNamara was unhappy at the overly physical nature of some of St Mirren’s challenges in the first half of Thursday’s game, particularly some of Goodwin’s, and told Courier Sport yesterday he would like to see more consistency from match officials.
“I spoke to Danny Lennon after the game and he said he feels Jim gets singled out for certain things, but I think you single yourself out the way you go into challenges,” he said yesterday.
“I think the first one with Stuart was naughty and the one with (Marc) McAusland was a bad one the follow through on Gary Mackay-Steven which he’s feeling the effects of.
“It doesn’t change anything from the game and I don’t want to get people sent off.”
“That’s not what you want to see but you just want to see the right decisions and consistency,” said McNamara.
“It’s part and parcel of football and we’ve had it a few times. We give it out as well and I’m not saying we’re angels. We’re just looking for consistency with decisions.”
Following the incident with Armstrong, Goodwin was later booked for a separate challenge and was substituted by Buddies boss Danny Lennon prior to half-time in what looked like a precautionary move.
It was a bruising encounter for United on the whole and as a result they are sweating on the fitness of several key players ahead of the game against St Johnstone.
Armstrong is nursing a sore back, Mackay-Steven has a calf knock and Ryan Gauld has a groin problem, while Keith Watson will be suspended following his straight red card in Paisley.
As a result, United fans should expect some changes in personnel for the trip to Perth.
“I think the St Mirren game will dictate with the injuries and knocks we’ve had,” McNamara said.
“If you take away the scoreline, you look at the stats and we had more possession than them, more chances and another lot of corners.
“That’s the frustrating thing for me, because over the last two games we’ve had something like 36 corners, so it’s something we need to improve on. I know we’re not the biggest team in the country but there are certain things we should be able to do better.
“It was 4-1 and I said after it that I take responsibility because at 2-1 I thought we had them pegged in and then with Keith’s sending off we ended up with a 4-1-4. You put two subs on and they score a minute after he goes off, so it’s 3-1 and you are chasing. But even at that we still kept trying to play and get in behind them. I couldn’t fault the lads for effort but it was just little things with concentration and things we need to learn from.”