John Swinney still has confidence in SNP health chief Neil Gray after the row over his taxpayer-funded limousine trips to Aberdeen games was reignited.
Dons fan Mr Gray sparked anger last November when it emerged he had gone to watch his favourite team play for free four times.
Mr Gray said sorry for appearing like more of an Aberdeen fan than a government minister at the time – but insisted he had gone on official business.
The health secretary said minutes were available for all the matches he had attended, which also included two Scotland national team fixtures.
But it has since been revealed no notes were recorded during Mr Gray’s trip to Hampden when Aberdeen played Rangers in the League Cup final in December 2023.
The Airdrie MSP, who grew up in Kirkwall, apologised for a second time in Holyrood and claimed he had made an “inadvertent error” by misleading MSPs.
But First Minister Mr Swinney stood by his health secretary as he spoke to journalists following a speech in Glasgow.
The SNP leader claimed little had changed and claimed Mr Gray had simply made an accidental mistake.
The first minister said: “Neil explained to Parliament one specific detailed point which was in one of his answers to parliament that was not consistent with two other points that he made during that statement.
“The content of the issue hasn’t really changed since Neil made his parliamentary statement.
“It’s just quite simply that there’s been an issue with one of the answers that he gave at the same time he gave all of his other answers, and just one didn’t have a caveat within it.”
When asked if he still has confidence in Mr Gray, he simply said: “Yes.”
Speaking in November, Mr Gray said he should have “attended a wider of games” instead of regularly going to see Aberdeen play.
At Holyrood on Wednesday, SNP ministers were quizzed on whether Mr Gray corrected his previous mistake at the earliest possible opportunity.
Tory MSP Stephen Kerr claimed the health secretary had “clearly violated” Holyrood’s ministerial code following his U-turn.
But SNP minister Jamie Hepburn said his colleague “willingly came forward to acknowledge the inadvertent error he made”.
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