Jim Goodwin believes the “overreaction” of Morton man Calum Waters played a major role in Mathew Cudjoe’s contentious red card as Dundee United launched an appeal against the dismissal.
The Ghanaian was given his marching orders by referee David Munro following a clash with Waters. With both players on the ground, Cudjoe was deemed to have swung an arm at his opponent.
Cudjoe has had a very good start to the season and we don’t want to be without him.
Jim Goodwin
Waters fell to the turf clutching his face, while Ton boss Dougie Imrie erupted in fury on the touchline.
However, Goodwin believes there was no malicious intent from Cudjoe as he sought to shake off Waters and get back to his feet. And United officially submitted their appeal on Tuesday afternoon.
“I don’t think there was any intent in what happened,” said Goodwin. “The overreaction of the Morton player made the incident look a lot worse than it was.
“It was an unfortunate situation for Mathew.
“I just don’t see it (as a red card). Cudjoe doesn’t throw his arm. It isn’t an elbow in the face and there was no treatment required to the Morton player after the incident.
“It was disappointing for us, and weakened the team going into the last half-hour of the game having to play with a man less.”
D-Day
An independent fast-track panel will convene for the hearing — likely to take place on Wednesday — ahead of United’s trip to Inverness on Saturday.
Goodwin added: “We’ll see what footage we can pull together — the media team have worked hard on that over Sunday and Monday — and see what happens.
“Ideally, it gets overturned completely. But even if it is reduced from a red to a yellow that is something we could accept.
“Cudjoe has had a very good start to the season and we don’t want to be without him.”
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