County claim Livingston fan spat in coach's face

Ross County say a confrontation at the end of their Scottish Premiership play-off at Livingston was sparked by a home fan spitting at one of their coaching staff.

Top-flight County scored a 96th-minute penalty to earn a draw in the first leg in West Lothian, which was followed by an irate Livingston fan gesturing and shouting immediately behind the visitors dugout.

A fracas ensued, with County manager Don Cowie saying his assistant Carl Tremarco was spat at amid the row.

The incident was caught on camera and Livingston are investigating.

"One of their fans overstepped the mark by spitting on our assistant manager's face. There is no place for that," Cowie told BBC Scotland.

"When it happens, our staff members want to protect each other because it's a disgusting thing to happen. I wanted to calm the situation down.

"Livingston have been first class, they have CCTV here so they'll identify who it was and take action."

County's chief executive Steven Ferguson echoed his manager's comments, adding that the Highland club are "not going to accept that".

Livingston manager David Martindale did not witness the incident but said it would be "disgusting if true".

"I'm sure the club will get to the bottom of that," he added. "It's vile. Disgusting. Really, really disappointing."

The game ended 1-1 after Ronan Hale's late penalty cancelled out Danny Wilson's opener, with the sides meeting in the return leg in Dingwall on Monday to decide which of the two will be in the top flight next season.