Celtic´s Griffiths: I never said the referee was biased

Striker Leigh Griffiths denied criticising referee Craig Thomson after Celtic’s 2-1 loss to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

The Scotland international converted from the spot in Saturday’s loss, but was aggrieved Thomson failed to send off Andrew Considine for conceding the spot kick – the Aberdeen defender only seeing yellow.

Griffiths was quoted as saying he would “put my mortgage” on Thomson sending off a Celtic player if roles were reversed.

However, the former Hibernian and Dundee man backtracked on Monday.

“I never said the referee was biased or not good at his job at all,” Griffiths said via Celtic’s website. 

“I’ve got a good relationship with Craig and I have total respect for him as a referee and a man. I spoke to Craig during the game and he told me the way he saw it.

“It’s only my opinion and it might not have come across, but all I meant was with a home team, the atmosphere, the crowd and their players going in on him, a referee can be put in a very difficult position to make a decision to show a red card.

“That is not a criticism of Craig and there is no way I would question Craig in that way at all.”

Aberdeen ended up finishing the match with 10 men after Jonathan Hayes was sent off in the 72nd minute, before the hosts scored the winner via Paul Quinn.

Celtic’s loss saw them slip to second in the Scottish top flight, their conquerors – with a game in hand – moving two points clear in first.