Motherwell star fears for football amid 'laughing stock' ref controversy as confident Celtic approach taken

Liam Gordon fears for the way football is going after a moment in Motherwell’s draw with Kilmarnock that left him and others baffled.

Defensive partner Dan Casey was sent off for violent conduct by referee Chris Graham in the 1-1 game. A supposed grab of the throat was shown on replays to be a pull of Killie player Danny Armstrong’s jersey but even after a VAR review, Graham stood by his original call.

Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes was preparing to play against 11 even after the red had been brandished while Motherwell counterpart Stuart Kettlewell was left raging. Head of referees, Willie Collum, has already said they should've had a penalty in the club’s 4-3 win against Dundee United.

Kettlewell has also been left dismayed by a missed penalty call at 0-0 during defeat to Ross County, and a Kofi Balmer head knock that was not pulled back for as Dundee put themselves 2-1 up in a game that eventually finished 4-1. Gordon said: "It's just becoming a laughing stock now.

"Recently, we've been on the end of a lot of decisions. This one kind of summed it up perfectly. It's never a red card. Armstrong initiates the contact first. Dan is simply defending himself with his hand and he just pushes him away. The most concerning thing is that the ref gets sent to the monitor and you're thinking, 'That's fine, it'll get rescinded'.

"Then he sticks with the decision? I'm confused and it's a sorry state if that's the way the game's going. But we'll move on from it. Dan will pick himself up. We've got his back, we'll rally round him.

"You're going into games now with a different approach as defenders. In and around the box, for sure, with so many penalties being given. But even just in general play. The longer it goes on, certainly, it's something that impacts your game."

Gordon netted his first goal for Motherwell in the match. Casey headed the ball back across goal for him to slide home before Liam Polworth levelled up. The centre-back said: "Listen, I'll take any goal I can get. It was a great slide tackle into the net!

"I'm very happy, on a personal level, to get off the mark here. I was delighted to give us the lead. It's just unfortunate it wasn't a winning goal in the end. Obviously, any point on the board is good but, if I'm honest, we didn't do enough to get the three points.

"Obviously a lot of good character shown. At times, though, I think the quality was lacking. We just had to endure it in the second half. That's why you're a defender ? you've got to embrace moments like those. It got difficult and, when we went down to ten, it's that bit harder.

"But when I look across the pitch and see all the boys next to me, I know these are guys who are willing to go to war with you. It was a challenge but one that I knew we could get over the line."

Next up is a brutal run of fixtures for Motherwell. Celtic is the first challenge but Gordon has set out a confident stall ahead of heading to Parkhead to face the champions. He added: “Obviously, looking at the Old Firm, we've had two really close games with Rangers so far this season. Against Celtic, we held our own for long enough here.

"And the Aberdeen game up there, we were very unlucky not to come away with a point when their keeper made some unbelievable saves. Hearts, we've already beaten too. So these are games we are more than capable of going and taking something from."