Brad McKay ‘not charged’ for Juanma ‘foreigner’ remark

TOMMY Wright has confirmed that Hampden bosses have contacted St Johnstone over Brad McKay’s post-match outburst on Sunday - but insists the defender has not been charged.

Brad McKay made the outburst in the wake of his new side's 4-3 defeat at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS

The former Hearts youngster blasted his old side’s new frontman Juanma as he claimed the Spaniard went down easily to win a penalty on his return to Tynecastle.

McKay said after the Perth side’s Ladbrokes Premiership opener that Juanma was a “typical foreigner” who “gets touched and goes down”.

That led to accusations that the 22-year-old’s comments were racist and reports on Thursday suggested Scottish Football Association compliance officer Tony McGlennan was ready to investigate.

McDiarmid boss Wright revealed disciplinary chiefs had been in touch but the Northern Irishman knew nothing of a potential ban.

He said: “The SFA have contacted us to ask our views on it but there has been no disciplinary action taken against Brad as far as we are aware.

“The Press with their inside information maybe get better information on it but all the SFA have asked of us is for our views and that’s it.”

McKay’s fourth-minute slip allowed Juanma to put Hearts ahead at the weekend and Saints suffered three more defensive calamities as they went down 4-3 in Gorgie.

But Wright is not losing sleep over the prospect of a repeat nightmare when they face Inverness at home this Saturday.

“I wasn’t happy with the defending and I can’t be,” he said. “The players weren’t happy with it either.

“To score three goals away from home is a big positive. The two strikers we brought in - John Sutton and Graham Cummins - both scored and we passed the ball well.

“On another day we could have won the game - but the defending was not up to scratch.

“It was mostly individual errors that cost us. Last year when we weren’t playing well we made the same kind of errors, but it was one a game. To make four in one match was uncharacteristic.

“The back four is slightly changed with the injuries we have and it’s a learning curve for the younger lads. But we know individually we could have done a lot better.

“I just hope it’s not the kind of thing we see repeated regularly. That type of defending is what gives managers sleepless nights - thankfully I haven’t had too many of those since I’ve been here and hopefully that continues.”