Livingston boss David Martindale says he has received an 'honest' reply from SFA Head of Referee Operations Crawford Allan after the club's defeat to Motherwell.
The hosts were awarded a penalty in the second half for an apparent handball on Cristian Montano when, in fact, the ball appeared to strike the Colombian's chest. Kevin van Veen duly scored from the spot for the only goal of the game.
And he's hoping both the officials, and his own players, can up their performances from the weekend as they prepare to travel to Pittodrie on Saturday.
Speaking to the Courier, he said: "I sent an email to Crawford Allan and I got a very honest answer back and I appreciate that.
“Everyone knew it wasn’t a penalty at the time and I think the linesman was guessing because if he has seen it then he’ll have seen it wasn’t a handball.
“When it comes to important decisions in games, you can’t guess. There’s no other explanation but he’s made an error and he’s only human.
“The decision actually completely changes your outlook on the game. I don’t think we did enough to win it but I also don’t think we deserved to lose it either.
“If you’re coming away with a draw and a clean sheet at Motherwell, you’re fairly happy. An error from the official changes all our views on the game.”
He added: “As a collective unit, we need to be better against Aberdeen.
“It will be a very tough game and I think Jim Goodwin has recruited very well. They’ve spent a fair bit of money but they’ve earned the right to do that with player sales.
“He’s a very astute manager and he’s one I’ve got a lot of time for but we need to go up there and make sure we’re hard to beat while also posing an attacking threat.
“You’re just hoping it’s not an officiating error that decides the game. Even if you win, sure you’d take it but it’s not nice to win a game on that basis.”
Last season’s top goalscorer Bruce Anderson was ruled out for the Motherwell trip due to an ankle injury and may not be back in time to face his former club.
Martindale said: “Bruce went over on his ankle the day before the Motherwell game. He’s a really positive individual, sometimes to the extent that you have to try and control it a wee bit.
“We’re not sure if he’s going to be ready in time but James Penrice has another week of training under his belt so that’s a big positive.”
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