Dougie McDonald to referee SFL fixture

REFEREE Dougie McDonald, who has been the centre of intense media attention for the past few days following claims and counter-claims over the penalty that never was in the Dundee United and Celtic game last month, drops down to SFL duty in the First Division this week.

McDonald is in charge of the Falkirk v Ross County match as he looks to rebuild his reputation after admitting to misleading the referee's observer after the Tannadice game, stating that his assistant referee had initiated discussion over the merit of a dubious penalty award when in fact it had been McDonald who had approached the linesman. A complaint from Celtic to the SFA led to the exposure of this deception.

There have been doubts raised about whether McDonald will be able to take charge of matches at the highest level any longer, although the referee insists he will not quit and sees no problem with being given a Celtic match in the future.

Falkirk manager Steven Pressley is happy with this weekend's appointment. "Top managers make bad decisions, top players make bad decisions and top referees can also make bad decisions," said Pressley. "It doesn't mean he's not a good referee."