Ross County manager Malky Mackay is calling for consistency from officials as he claimed Aberdeen should have been down to 10 men in a game which ended 1-1.
The Scottish Premiership clash at the Global Energy Stadium burst into life in the final moments when William Akio’s stoppage-time leveller denied the Dons three points.
Aberdeen, who moved into third spot ahead of Hearts on goal difference, had taken the lead on 88 minutes with a great swivel and strike from Luis Lopes.
The Staggies moved up to 10th position, also on goal difference, thanks to Akio’s response and Mackay was delighted with their never-say-die efforts.
However, he feels on-loan Liverpool ace Leighton Clarkson’s challenge on full-back Callum Johnson should have been more than a booking from referee Kevin Clancy.
Ross County recently had bookings for Ross Callachan and Jack Baldwin changed to reds by the SFA after the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, which led to two-game bans.
Last week, in the 4-0 loss at Rangers, there was a big decision when James Sands stayed on the pitch, despite a challenge on Jordy Hiwula.
Mackay reviewed Clarkson challenge
The Staggies boss wants to see what action taken for what he felt was a reckless moment from the Dons man.
He said: “We matched them all over the pitch and it was a clean game apart from the challenge in the 56th minute, which for me was a red card.
“I’ve watched it back and for me, the tackle by (Leighton) Clarkson on Callum Johnson was a leg-breaker.
“I’ve spoken to the referee to let him know that I will be looking to see what the compliance officer (Andrew Phillips) does.
“We’ve come off the back of a couple of difficult ones in terms of the compliance side of the game, with our two players who were cited and retrospectively sent off. Then at Ibrox, we had a decision not to have had a man (James Sands) sent off against us.
“Today there’s another one that’s glaring.”
Deeper delve into key moments call
Mackay feels the issue of key decisions needs to be discussed wider across the board in Scottish football.
He said: “I’m just looking for consistency. Unless the compliance officer gets someone to sit down and watch all six games, all 90 minutes, on a Sunday evening then I don’t see how people can be cited because things are missed and it can’t just be on Saturday and Sunday night TV programmes.
“We’ve had players suspended for the Celtic game on Wednesday night and Ibrox and then I look at what happened at Ibrox and I look at what happened today.
“Aberdeen had a good hard go and the referee was good, but that was a really poor challenge and if they had gone to 10 men after 56 minutes, it would have changed the dynamic of the game.
“I’ll wait to see what happens but I’ll probably speak to (SFA’s head of referee operations) Crawford Allan on Monday.”
County handled Dons’ quality – boss
Mackay praised his players for battling back to ensure, even late on, they did not walk away with nothing.
He added: “I think we got our just rewards because nobody deserved to lose that game.
“I was delighted with our centre backs (Jack Baldwin and Alex Iacovitti). I know that Jim Goodwin has changed his squad around and I think the we handled the quality he has brought in really well.
“Our two centre backs kept (Bojan) Miovski incredibly quiet and they are a team that has been free-flowing.”
Ross County host Motherwell in the league next week, with Aberdeen facing Rangers.
Conversation