St Johnstone’s Simon Lappin has jokingly admitted that team-mate Liam Craig dives to win penalties but only in training.
The midfielder made his quip after Saints secured a point late on at Pittodrie on Saturday when substitute Craig went down in the Aberdeen penalty box under a challenge from Dons skipper Ryan Jack.
Referee Steven McLean had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, a decision that sparked howls of protest from the home players with the Aberdeen fans shouting, “Cheat, cheat, cheat!” from the stands.
Craig paid no heed as he stepped up to calmly slot the penalty away with aplomb to secure a point for Saints and put a huge dent in the Dons’ title aspirations.
Lappin admitted he did not see the incident that led to the spot-kick but he was fully convinced Craig would not have gone down without reason.
He joked: “I have never seen Liam dive before only in training!
“I haven’t seen it again as I was further back down the field but I think Steven McLean the referee said it was a stonewall penalty. That is good enough for us.
“We have a great dressing-room and we are all honest boys. I don’t think it was a dive and Liam himself says it wasn’t so that’s good enough for me.
“Aberdeen have their own ambitions and with Celtic dropping points on Friday night they would have been looking to capitalise on that but we are completely focused on ourselves.
“We weren’t concerned about Aberdeen, it was about what St Johnstone were doing.
“So it is a good point and we will now move on to the next game on Wednesday.”