21 January 2022

Stephen Glass rules out official complaint over penalty decision against Rangers

21 January 2022

Stephen Glass insists Aberdeen will not go down the same road as Rangers and take their gripes about officials to the authorities.

The Ibrox club have raised concerns with the Scottish Football Association about several decisions made by referee Kevin Clancy in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw between the teams in the cinch Premiership.

Glass is adamant his side were on the receiving end of the worst call of the match when they were not awarded a penalty after Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor collided with Dons attacker Ryan Hedges while the score was 0-0.

Asked for his reaction to Rangers taking their complaints to the governing body, the Aberdeen manager said: “There’s no reaction or fallout from this end. There was one big incident in the game that I think everyone would agree upon, but we ain’t complaining about it.

“Us not getting a penalty was the most high-profile incident in the game but I’m not going to complain about it.

“We weren’t happy at the time and we’re still not happy but we’re not going to achieve anything by complaining. It’s their business what they want to talk about. I don’t work for Rangers, I work for Aberdeen.

“We’re not happy about the refereeing decision, it’s not the first time this year, but we’re not going to sit and complain.

“I’ve had myself in trouble a couple of times for talking about referees in the heat of the game this season so I’m not going to talk about referees away from a game.”

Glass hopes the Dons can kick off their Scottish Cup run by winning at home to cinch League Two side Edinburgh City on Saturday as they bid to land the old trophy for the first time since 1990.

He said: “For the last 30 years, we’ve been adding a year on and talking about it, so it would be nice if at some point down the line we were talking about whether we can hold on to the Scottish Cup. That’s the aim for us, to try and win the Scottish Cup, but we know there are a lot of teams in the same boat.

“You win five games, you win the Scottish Cup but if we don’t take care of Edinburgh City we won’t have that opportunity.

“On Tuesday, we played in a big atmosphere where it felt like there was a huge game at stake. The atmosphere might not be quite the same on Saturday but the players have to create that in their minds and approach the game in the same way.

“It’s massively important for the club to make sure we’re in the next round. Edinburgh City won’t make it easy for us and I’m sure they’ll come and try to win. I know (City manager) Gary Naysmith from being in Scotland Under-21 squads and B squads together and I know what he’s like as a person. He’ll see an opportunity for his team and he’ll have them well drilled.”

Glass will select from the same group of players he had available on Tuesday, with Marley Watkins, Mikey Devlin and Andy Considine all still out and new American midfielder Dante Polvara unlikely to be ready to feature.

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