Jack Butland sees Rangers red card claim against St Mirren rejected as Stephen Robinson jumps to defence of keeper

Stephen Robinson has backed the decision not to send off Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland in the closing stages of St Mirren's 2-1 defeat to the Light Blues in Paisley.

With the Buddies trailing late on, Robinson threw on striker Toyosi Olusanya in a last ditch bid to rescue a point for the hosts. Just minutes after coming on, the 26-year-old charged down fellow Englishman Butland when he came outside of his areas to clear his lines, only to hit the deck after colliding with the stopper.

To Butland and his team's bemusement, referee Nick Walsh awarded St Mirren the free-kick just outside the box and also decided to brandish the former Stoke City and Birmingham man with a yellow card. Buddies boss Robinson admits he had no issues with the call and felt there was no intent to do harm from Butland on forward Olusanya. He said: “I think he came out to play the ball. If there is contact, I think it is accidental. I haven't seen it back but he has came out with no malice whatsoever.

“He was terrific - he kept Rangers in the game with a brilliant save that obviously affected the result. But, no I don't think it should be a red card.”

The Irishman did however concede that he’s sick of taking plaudits but not points from his Old Firm rivals. The St Mirren gaffer has seen his team go up against the big two seven times this season. But it’s been a frustrating watch for the Northern Irishman, whose side have lost out on each occasion.

The aggregate score of those seven clashes is a whopping 18-2 in favour of the Glasgow giants. Robinson, though, has been proud of the way his Euro-chasers have performed - but admits he’s tired of coming away with nothing more than a pat on the back.

Asked how he felt after seeing a Jack Bolton OG and Cyriel Dessers late header consign his team to yet another defeat, he said: “Frustrated. Ultimately, I’ve had a lot of ‘well-dones’ this season from top-class managers.

“Philippe Clement was very complimentary about how good we are and Brendan Rodgers was the same a couple of weeks ago. But ultimately we’ve come out with no points from both games.

“We created enough chances today to win the game, never mind draw it.“Their keeper made some terrific saves. The two goals are very much avoidable, two poor goals to concede.

“The first one was a lack of communication, which is something we crave from the boys. Society doesn’t speak a lot to each other now so we try to demand that from them, but we didn’t do it there and we were punished. The second one, as much as it’s a very good cross, if we defended that 100 times we would win it, when it’s 1 v 3 in the box.

“The goals were frustrating ones to lose. We have to be better than that and we demand better than that. All the ‘well dones’ in the world don’t get you points unfortunately.”

Robinson struggled to contain his emotions at times on the sidelines but said: “I’m usually frustrated for 96 minutes. I think we should go and beat Rangers and Celtic every time. I’m maybe a bit deluded, but that’s the demands we have and if you go into it any other way you probably shouldn’t be in football.”

The defeat was especially harsh on Saints stopper Alex Gogic, who barely put a foot wrong during a stoic 90 minute display, which was capped off with an astonishing goal-line clearance to keep out a Tom Lawrence strike. Robbo - whose side remain fifth and on course for a Conference League slot - added: “It typifies the spirit, the class and the quality of the boys we’ve got. I expect nothing less.

“We’ve got such a good group of boys - too nice at times but I want more from them, I demand more from them, because I believe a lot of them can go and play higher and I believe the club can stay as a top-six club. To do that, you have to have demands of each other.”