Dundee: Neil McCann says refereeing decisions 'hard to take'

Dundee striker Sofien Moussa had a goal disallowed against Motherwell for a push inside the area

Dundee manager Neil McCann believes his side were denied a legitimate goal in their 1-0 defeat by Motherwell.

Sofien Moussa's equaliser was ruled out by referee Stephen Finnie for a push.

McCann felt the verdict was harsh - and that major decisions have regularly been going against his side.

"I'm sick of criticising referees," he said, "We're not getting small decisions going against us, we're getting some really big ones and it's hard to take."

Motherwell took the lead at Dens Park through Craig Tanner and were the dominant team in the first half.

The home side rallied, but Moussa's disallowed effort was the closest they came to levelling the scores.

"It's a certain goal," McCann said. "Stephen Finnie's explanation to me at half-time was that it was a little push, a soft push or something he said.

"I've watched it and there's minimal contact. Now Moussa's getting sandwiched between [Peter] Hartley and [Charles] Dunne and of course there's going to be contact by three big men coming together.

"I don't think it's a free-kick, it's a legitimate goal.

"A slow start from us gave Motherwell the upper hand. It was a really poor goal as well, we lost two headers and a midfield runner has come off our two midfield holders. It was sloppy.

"Second half, I thought we were the more dominant side, but Motherwell still carried a threat.

Motherwell midfielder Craig Tanner scored the winning goal at Dens Park with a neat finish

"Overall, I'm disappointed, but it can't linger too long because we have another important game on Saturday."

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson freshened up his starting line-up, making four changes to the side that overcame Rangers in Sunday's Scottish League Cup semi-final.

He felt those alterations affected the team's display but also that his side was well-disciplined enough to deserve their sixth win in eight Premiership games, a run that has moved them up to third in the table.

"I thought we started really brightly," Robinson said. "First 20 minutes, we were strong, took the lead and should have been two up, Alex [Fisher] had a great chance, but then we looked a bit jaded.

"The boys who came in have obviously not played regular football and it's tough for them, but some of them put in decent performances and gave me something to think about.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson's side have won six of their last eight Premiership games

"Dundee had lots of possession, but I didn't feel they were going to break us down.

"We were well organised and had a couple of chances near the end. The game should have been out of sight.

"To dig in and get that result is huge for us. We can be much better than that."