Allan insists he’s no cheat and accuses Holt of looking for excuses
Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan has refuted claims he “cheated” Livingston.
Livi manager Gary Holt accused the former Celtic player of diving after watching footage of the penalty Allanwonwhenhewentdown under the close attentions of former Hibs team-mate Marvin Bartley on Wednesday.
Allan converted the penalty to halve the deficit and Martin Boyle sealed a stoppage-time equaliser for Hibs.
The 27-year-old said: “I’m running into the box with a bit of pace, ball was played in behind, and I felt someone behind me. My momentum took me over. For me it’s a penalty, and I stepped up and put it away. It’s part of the game.”
When asked how he felt the footage looked, Allan said: “It’s different in real time, my momentum took me and the referee gave a penalty.”
The playmaker was unhappy with Holt’s comments.
“I think that’s poor to be honest,” Allan said. “The amount of kicks I take in a game and get up and play on would back that I’m not a cheat. For me it’s about doing a job professionally and the best for my club.
It’s obviously just a manager who is a bit hurt after the game because his team let a 2-0 lead go. We have been in those positions and it’s not good and you look for excuses why your team didn’t get the result.”
Allan was also unimpressed with claims from Bartley that he never touched him.
“Marv was trying to talk to me the full game to be honest, he had so much to say,” Allan said. “The thing is with Marv, Marv probably shouldn’t have been on the pitch at that time.
“He said he didn’t catch me. To be fair, the full game he was late and I felt at that time my momentum took me over and he was behind me along with three other players.”
Head coach Paul Heckingbottom claimed Holt had no evidence to back up his accusations. “He’s got better eyes than me,” Heckingbottom said. “He has some camera that we’ve never seen.
“If that’s how we want to debrief games, going over ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda’, we can do, but I’m more bothered about what we can do to change. It’s not my job to look after referees.
“I could be looking at Marv’s tackle first half, Marv’s elbow first half. It’s not going to get me the three points we deserve.
“So I don’t worry too much about that at all. And no-one can show me that it wasn’t a penalty.”
Motherwell have declared their debts to former owners John Boyle and Les Hutchison have been repaid in full.
The club have paid back more than £1.5 million in total since moving into fan ownership in October 2016, with the help of transfer deals which include the sales of Louis Moult and Cedric Kipre.
Boyle put in money amid the financial crisis Scottish football faced when Setanta Sports went bust in 2009 and was owed about £350,000 when he sold the club to Hutchison for a pound in January 2015.
Hutchison put in a significant sum as part of that deal after the club got into financial trouble over the previous few seasons.
Chairman Jim Mcmahon said: “From the moment the Well Society took over the majority interest in Motherwell Football Club, our collective energy has been firmly focused on ensuring the club is sustainable on a medium to long-term basis.
“A key part of that has been eliminating the debt we inherited and we have now almost achieved that. For the club to have paid back such a significant amount in just over two years is a remarkable feat.
“I want to thank those who have worked so hard to help us achieve that, including chief executive Alan Burrows, the management, coaching and recruitment staff, the current board of directors at the club, as well as the Well Society board, members and Motherwell supporters. I also thank John Boyle and Les Hutchison for their support over the years.”
Motherwell host Livingston today and the visitors have a number of absentees. Striker Lyndon Dykes is on the sidelines with an ankle injury, Nicky Devlin is sporting crutches as the club wait to find out the severity of a knee issue and Lee Miller, Cece Pepe, Ibrahima Savane and Chris Erskine are among the other players missing. Aymen Souda is suspended.