St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright was in no doubt that his side were denied a stonewall penalty last night against Celtic at Parkhead.
The Hoops scored the only goal of the game when Dedryck Boyata powered a header home from a corner in the 72nd minute.
However, the big moment of controversy came shortly after when Celtic captain Scott Brown pushed Steven Anderson in the back inside the home box sending the Saints skipper to the turf.
However, referee Andrew Dallas saw nothing amiss, a decision that left the McDiarmid manager fuming.
Wright said: “My side really couldn’t have done much more tonight.
“Obviously they were going to have chances and our keeper has had to make saves but we defended well.
“We created some opportunities ourselves particularly first half but as the game went on, Celtic kept probing away and it became more difficult for us to win the ball back.
“Fatigue creeps in and we probably gave the ball away cheaply in the second half.
“I am disappointed that we conceded off a corner.
“It would probably be easier to accept if it had come off some brilliant play and someone puts one in the top corner.
“But we have defended well all night and then we just had a wee slip and we have conceded.
“At 1-0 we were always in the game but unfortunately we could not get that goal as I felt they deserved something from the game from the effort they put in.”
When asked if he felt his side should have had a penalty, Wright replied: “Without a doubt.
“There are difficult decisions to make and there are easy ones and that was the probably the easiest one for the referee to make.
“I don’t see how he cannot give that. He has a clear view, it is a push in the back and anywhere else it is a free-kick.
“It robbed us of an opportunity of trying to get an equaliser.
“But there are a lot of positives for us to come here against a side that is steamrolling its way to the league title and put up that performance.”
