St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson blasts Bobby Madden and urges refs to stick to the rules
ST JOHNSTONE boss Callum Davidson has blasted Bobby Madden and urged refs to stick to the rules.
Defender Jamie McCart suffered a head knock with Saints 2-0 up in Friday’s play-off first leg with Caley Thistle.
But Madden played on, with Austin Samuels in an offside position leading up to Reece McAlear’s first goal as Inverness fought back to draw 2-2.
After watching Willie Collum stop the Scottish Cup final for the same thing, Perth boss Davidson fumed: “That made what happened on Friday worse.
“It was a head knock and I’m sure the rules say, especially with both players down, the game should be stopped.
"The ref let it go, they scored and the boy was offside.
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“If it’s one mistake then you can go, ‘OK’, but two blatant ones? It infuriates you as it can be the turning point.
“It hasn’t ruined the tie, but it would have put us in a stronger position.
“If I didn’t see the cup final I probably wouldn’t be so mad.
“Bobby obviously doesn’t stop for head knocks, it must be how he refs.”
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Nick Walsh will take charge of Monday’s second leg with Caley in Perth.
Davidson said: “There’s belief in this group. They have seen a couple of bad decisions go against us. There’s that little bit of, ‘Let’s use it as a positive.”
Opposite number Billy Dodds has no worries about Caley Thistle’s fitness.
Inverness have come through five gruelling matches in 19 days.
And no team has ever negotiated their way through six play-off games to win a place in the Premiership.
But Dodds believes injury-hit Caley finishing stronger in Friday’s draw proves they don’t have to worry about running on empty at McDiarmid Park.
He said: “We had a good week’s rest between the second leg against Arbroath and the St Johnstone game on Friday.
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"It was physical after we played Partick Thistle going into the Arbroath game, but I felt we were rested up well for the St Johnstone game.
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“We finished as the stronger team on Friday, so the fitness is certainly there. I’m not worried about our fitness.”
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