DUNDEE STRIKER John Baird has played down the incident that left him on the floor during last night’s game against Celtic.
With half-time fast approaching, Baird was elbowed by Hoops defender Kelvin Wilson and the former Raith Rovers man dropped to the ground.
No action was taken against Wilson at the time by referee Iain Brines but the TV footage could be looked at retrospectively by the SFA.
However, Baird, who recovered and played on in the 2-0 loss at Dens Park, defended his opponent and doesn’t want him punished.
“To be fair, I went to pull him to try to get an extra yard on him,” said Baird. “He has caught me but I think it was accidental.
“I was annoyed at the time but I thought I had lost my teeth! It was his elbow that caught me but I do think it was an accident.
“I spoke to him when we were going up the tunnel and that’s what he said, that I was pulling him back. It was just one of these things.
“If someone pulls me back the reaction is to get your arm out of the road. It is not as if he has come over and said: ‘Take that!’
“So I don’t think the SFA should look at it because it’s not going to change anything.”
Dundee boss Barry Smith was not too downhearted in the wake of the defeat that saw goals from Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper seal the points for Celtic.
That was mainly due to a spirited spell after the interval.
“We said to them at half-time that they had defended relatively well and made it difficult for Celtic but that we had to be braver on the ball,” said Smith.
“I think they went out and did that. Their keeper Fraser Forster had a world-class save (off a Colin Nish header) and if it had gone to 1-1 then you don’t know what could have happened after that.
“So all credit to the players because they kept fighting away. They went toe to toe with the team that is top of the league, especially in the second half when we created a few chances.
“If we can take that into Saturday’s game against Aberdeen then we will have every chance.”
Celtic boss Neil Lennon, who saw his side win with goals from Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper, was “overall pleased” with his team’s performance.
He said: “We had two bits of quality to win the game but we also had to rely on our keeper to make a fantastic save.
“I don’t think we started the second half well at all but James Forrest came on and gave us a better balance. It is a great win for us.”
iroache@thecourier.co.uk
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