Criticism of veteran St Johnstone goalkeeper Stevie Banks has been branded “uneducated” by Perth boss Tommy Wright.
The 41-year-old filled in for injured Alan Mannus in Saturday’s League Cup semi-final defeat.
Wright was responding to the observations of BBC analyst and ex-player Michael Stewart on the former Dundee United man’s performance in the 4-0 defeat by Aberdeen.
The Saints manager absolved Banks from blame for all four goals.
He explained: “I hear a pundit like Michael Stewart saying it was ‘a game too many’ for Stevie but he wasn’t to blame for the three other goals.
“People will look at his age and he is an easy target. But they are uneducated in the ways of goalkeeping.
“Stevie Banks only made two saves and both were very good. If you analyse the goals, obviously there was a poor goal kick for the first but these things happen and television pictures show the ball actually moved before he kicked it, and he also slipped into the bargain.
“As a former keeper myself I know these things can happen. We still had an opportunity to rectify that mistake but didn’t take it.”
Wright added: “My opinion of Stevie Banks hasn’t changed. In the summer we weighed up different options on the goalkeeping front when Jonny Tuffey went back to Ireland, with the budget being cut.
“Stevie ticked two boxes because he provided cover for Alan Mannus, who hadn’t had a serious injury in 12 years, and he is a highly rated goalkeeping coach.”
“Ideally you would want a number two keeper who is younger, and you could say we took a calculated gamble on a player who is nearly 42.
“But I looked at the individual and I remain convinced Stevie is more than capable of performing at this level. He has shown this in first team games already.
“I have been more than happy with Stevie but I accept he may have to play more games than we would have anticipated, although we are hoping that Alan won’t be out for as long as we originally feared. Surgery isn’t required on his broken thumb and we will have a better idea of the time frame later this week.
“Stevie has done well for us and it is unfair to single him out for criticism and highlight one poor kick out in the semi-final as something to do with his age. The ball moved and he lost his footing.”
Banks may not have been culpable for any of the goals, according to Wright, but he wasn’t hiding from the fact that three of the four were self-inflicted.
He noted: “We were solid most of the time and put Aberdeen under pressure. Many teams would have crumbled but they defended very well. And we contributed to our own downfall. Individual errors cost us dearly.
“They punished us for those mistakes and were very clinical. Three of their goals were counter attacks.
“There is a real sense of disappointment in the camp. It wasn’t as if we lost to a side which took us apart with free-flowing football and dominated us, as the score might suggest.
“But it’s in the past now and we can’t afford to dwell on it. We have to use this to drive us on for the rest of the season.
“These players will get over it. We lost as a team and we will pick ourselves up for Forfar. I have no doubt we will bounce back from this defeat. No one can ever question the character and honesty of this group of players.
“No matter what game we had next the players would be desperate to get going again. The fact it is another cup tie means we can try to go on another run.
Meanwhile, young keeper Michael Hurst (18) has been selected for the Scotland under-19s training camp.