St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright called on flair players like James McFadden to be given greater protection from officials after the forward’s frustration led to his red card yesterday.
Saints suffered their second straight defeat of the New Year when they went down 1-0 at home to Hamilton, and their disappointing afternoon was capped late on when McFadden was shown a second yellow card after tangling with Accies sub Eamonn Brophy.
The former Scotland man had earlier been booked for a foul on Dougie Imrie in the first half, although the Saints boss was none too happy with the treatment McFadden received throughout.
“It was frustration with James because it was a foul on him first,” Wright suggested.
“If that’s a yellow card and a sending off then we’ll end up with six-a-side.
“He didn’t get much protection throughout the game and it was a clear foul.
“He was blocked when he tried to go on the outside and put his hand up around the Hamilton player.
“That was a foul on James but the referee didn’t see it that way and it’s his view that matters.
“But I don’t think the referee gave James enough protection throughout the game.”
Saints had gone into 2015 with high hopes of staking a claim for a top four spot, but losses to Aberdeen and now Accies mean Kilmarnock could potentially edge them back out of the top six again this evening when they play Celtic.
Tony Andreu’s 13th goal of the season was enough to separate the sides in Perth yesterday, and Wright conceded that his team probably deserved what they got out of the game.
“It wasn’t pretty and again we didn’t start well,” he added.
“We let them score a soft goal, we didn’t deal with the cross then stop it in the box.
“In the second half they had a great chance to go 2-0 but hit the bar.
“After that we created a lot of pressure without looking too much like scoring, and it looked like a set play would be our best chance.”