Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Craig Levein hits back at Dundee boss Tony Docherty over ‘inappropriate’ St Johnstone skipper blast

Levein insists Perth captain Liam Gordon did not intend to injure Dee striker Michael Mellon.

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein (left) and Dundee counterpart Tony Docherty. Images: SNS
St Johnstone manager Craig Levein (left) and Dundee counterpart Tony Docherty. Images: SNS

Craig Levein has leapt to the defence of St Johnstone captain Liam Gordon and revealed he telephoned Tony Docherty over the Dundee manager’s “inappropriate” description of his captain’s aerial challenge with Michael Mellon.

Both players collapsed to the ground after contesting a high ball in injury-time of Sunday’s Dens Park clash.

It quickly became clear that Mellon had come off worst, with the 20-year-old taken to hospital wearing a neck brace.

Saints boss Levein was relieved to learn that the promising young striker is on the mend.

But he insists no blame can be attached to Gordon.

Liam Gordon and Craig Levein.
Liam Gordon and Craig Levein. Image: SNS.

And he took issue with Docherty describing the challenge as “almost life-endangering”.

“His choice of words was inappropriate,” said Levein, who confirmed he phoned his opposite number to address the subject.

“I thought it was a strong challenge – the ball was there to be won.

“And, if Gordy hadn’t gone for it, I would have been shouting at him.

“Gordy actually wins the ball.

“It’s sickening when you see someone going down like that and you know immediately that it’s been a head knock.

“It’s worse when you see a player flop down because you know they’ve maybe gone unconscious.

Tony Docherty (left) and Craig Levein shake hands after Sunday’s game. Image: SNS

“But Gordy is one of the best professionals I’ve ever worked with – he is a very decent human being.

“So he had as much concern about the young lad as everyone else did.

“We are all on the same page about that. It was sad to see it happen.

“And we agreed upon one thing – that the referee playing on was absolutely ridiculous.

“No one wants to see anyone getting concussion at any point in a match.”

Gordon hasn’t suffered concussion himself, Levein reported.

“Gordy appears to be OK,” he said.

“He hasn’t been out training but that’s because he felt his hamstring a bit.”

Conversation