CALLUM DAVIDSON has vented his frustrations towards defender Daniel Cleary following St Johnstone’s Premier Sports Cup penalty loss to Annan.
The Perth outfit finished the game with nine men after Cleary and midfielder Cammy MacPherson were both shown straight red cards.
Penalties followed and Annan ran out winners after both Michael O’Halloran and Andrew Considine missed for Saints.
Speaking after the match, Davidson said: “We gave a team an opportunity to get a result in the game from our lack of discipline. I’m furious with it.
“I’m not accepting it. This is an important competition for us. We’ve given ourselves 60 minutes with 10 men in our first game.
“For me, it’s like a playground football. [Dan Cleary’s red] was a little melee but you have to keep your hands down.
“As soon as you put them up you give the ref an opportunity to send you off. We were in full control.
“After that Annan made it extremely difficult by getting men behind the ball. But we did have chances.”
Cleary’s dismissal was as clear a red as you will see, but the same cannot be said for MacPherson’s.
Davidson added: “The second sending off was more dubious. Cammy slid in, the other boy jumped and they both tried to pull out.
“Both will be suspended, which is the knock on effect. I’ve just said to them we’ll need to win all three games to give ourselves a chance.
“I believe we’ve got the players to do that but we need to make sure we keep 11 players on the pitch to do so.”
