Falkirk boss John McGlynn hit out at the implementation of offside rules after goalkeeper Scott Bain was forced off during his side’s 1-0 William Hill Premiership win over Aberdeen.
Bain was in inspired form to keep the scores level as the home side dominated the first half, but when VAR upgraded a Nicky Devlin booking to a red card just before the interval, the Bairns were able to take full advantage.
Substitute Kyrell Wilson drove home the only goal from a loose ball just inside the area, but McGlynn was upset at the manner in which Bain sustained a suspected broken thumb.
He said: “It happened when there was an offside decision, but play carried on and he’s got injured in a collision. He won’t be the first or last player it happens to, but players are getting injured when play should be stopped.”
On the game, he added: “It’s a weight off the shoulders. We know there are 38 games to get played and we weren’t panicking, but you want to get it as soon as you possibly can.
“To be sitting with one win, one draw and one defeat in this league is quite good going.
“Aberdeen put us under a lot of pressure in the first half and we had to dig in a bit. Scott made some really, really good saves. I thought we defended set plays very well, and the sending-off just before half time – we took advantage of the numerical advantage.
“Kyrell coming in just yesterday (Saturday) helped us get a bit of impetus in the game and fresh legs, and he managed to get onto a ball on the edge of the box to get us the win. He’ll be very popular among the squad!”
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin admitted his side have to improve as their winless and goalless start to the league season continued.
He said: “Our performance over 90 minutes in the games we’ve played so far this season has not been stable enough or good enough to deserve the results. Some parts are OK but others are not good enough to deserve the results.
“That pressure is on me and my staff to find a way now in this international break to help the players to take the right decisions and make it more simple for them to win the games.
“We performed OK before the red card, but I still think we could have done better afterwards to be more stable and connected, to find a way to keep the clean sheet, then use transitions or set plays and use these moments.
“I haven’t seen the red card back, and it’s not about using a red card as an excuse. It’s more about how we behave as a team under pressure, and that’s where we need to be much, much better. I need to find a way to help the players – that’s my responsibility.”
