Livingston boss David Martindale says it's 'disappointing' that yet another refereeing error has gone against them after admitting he's received an apology over Ross County defender Keith Watson not being shown a straight red card in the Lions' loss at the weekend.
The Staggies skipper scythed down Livi attacker Joel Nouble as he raced through on goal midway through the first-half but the challenge was deemed a yellow card by referee Graham Grainger.
Despite dominating large spells of the game, Martindale's men came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline as Owura Edwards nodded home the only goal on 74 minutes after a Sean Kelly defensive error.
It's the second major officiating decision that has gone against the Lions this season after Motherwell were awarded a penalty at Fir Park for handball despite the ball striking Cristian Montano's chest. Kevin van Veen converted that spot-kick to condemn Livi to a 1-0 loss.
Speaking to the West Lothian Courier, Martindale said: "I got an email on Monday morning saying ‘sorry, we think that’s a red card on 21 minutes’. It’s disappointing because it’s another huge decision in a game that’s went against us. That’s on 21 minutes. It changes the game.
"There's been a couple of game-changing moments that went against us. With VAR we're probably sitting here with more points. I'm not having a go at officials but that is the reality.
"Knowing my luck, VAR will come in and all these decisions will go against us!"
He added: "I'm unhappy at the results in the last couple of games but I'm more than happy with where we are. I’ll defy anybody who says the players aren’t giving it all or they’re not playing well. I hope the fans are seeing that.
“If we keep doing the right things and keep pushing then we’ll not have much to worry about but we do need to be more clinical in both boxes."
He added: "I’ve had two managers in two games tell me we were unlucky. I’d much rather be sitting in my office after a game getting beat 1-0 after playing really well and it’s one moment in the game than wondering how we sort it because we’d been absolutely battered.
"The Motherwell game got stolen from us with an incorrect penalty decision. We shot ourselves in the foot against St Mirren and then at the weekend against Ross County it was really both.
“They should have been down to 10 men and their goal comes from a mistake.
"I was happy with 90 per cent of the St Mirren game and 95 per cent of the Ross County game and got beat both times. I’ve been happy with 40 per cent of games in the past and won them.
“We’re doing the right things and on the right track but we have to take responsibility for making mistakes.”
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