Ross County captain Andrew Davies has criticised referee Andrew Dallas, branding his performance in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Dundee as “terrible”.
The game’s main flashpoint came on 86 minutes when Dallas booked Staggies winger Michael Gardyne for diving when he appeared to have been clipped inside the box by Dundee’s Faissal El Bakhtaoui.
The defeat, courtesy of Simon Murray’s second-half goal, leaves County on the brink of relegation with two points separating them from second-bottom Partick going into their final-day match at St Johnstone on Saturday.
Davies reckons the Staggies’s struggles have been intensified by a string of poor refereeing displays and he felt Dallas’s performance at Victoria Park was the latest.
Davies said: “I thought his performance all night was terrible – and I don’t usually go on about referees. We know we need to look at ourselves, given the position we find ourselves in, and we all do that in the changing room. But when decisions go against us like that, I just think ‘what chance have we got’?
“If we’d got a point from that, we go into next week with a bit of confidence. But I thought his decisions were terrible. I thought the way he spoke to the players was terrible. All the lads in the changing room are saying he was cocky to them and having a go – having a little pop.
“As a professional referee in Scotland’s top league, have a word with yourself. That annoyed me.
“I don’t hear a lot of ref’s come out and apologise and say ‘I got that wrong’ but we’ll see what he says.
“I don’t even know who he is. I just think it’s disappointing.
“We’re all disappointed. We all go in there and look at ourselves and say we could do better.
“But that was a massive decision and it’s not just this week. Over the course of the season, it could have been 10 more points. There have been some shocking decisions and that is the disappointing part.
“But we all look at ourselves. It is not all because of refereeing decisions.”
County must win at St Johnstone and hope Partick fail to pick up three points against Dundee if they are to reach the relegation play-offs, but Davies retains belief his side can pull it off, adding: “We find ourselves still alive going into the weekend. The great escape is still alive, so we’re all confident of that.”