Card decision from Red to Yellow

"We felt that Jason Thomson was covering and the reason that he was sent off was for denying a goalscoring opportunity but we felt that we had a player in a position to make a tackle and the appeal agreed with that."

John Potter was sent off in the second half of last Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League match at St Johnstone for a foul on Francisco Sandaza but the Club has won its appeal against the decision meaning the centre back is available for the away game against Dundee United this weekend.

Jim McIntyre was naturally delighted that the appeal found in favour of the player and the red card decision has been changed to yellow.

"The more options you have got available to you the better. We felt that Jason Thomson was covering and the reason that he was sent off was for denying a goalscoring opportunity but we felt that we had a player in a position to make a tackle and the appeal agreed with that."

The Manager paid credit to referee George Salmond for his post match assessment of the incident that saw Potter red carded just 15 minutes into the second half at McDiarmid Park last Saturday:-

"He said that he sent an email in saying that on reflection having viewed it that he would call it as a yellow card. That was a big help as well."

The subsequent penalty was saved as the visitors held on to a 1-0 win. That sending off could have cost Dunfermline the points but a fine defensive performance made all the difference and the Pars hung on for the final 30 minutes to register their first SPL win of the season. Macca felt that Paul Gallacher's save from the penalty galvanised his side:-

"It made us harder to beat and having watched the video back we did some great defending and that bodes well. We have to take the confidence from the start that we have made and hopefully pick up more points."

So with Potter available for Saturday's game at Tannadice, Jim McIntyre has also the luxury of Kevin Rutkiewicz coming back from injury:-

"Kevin played on Tuesday in a bounce game; he got 70 minutes against Falkirk and trained this morning. He is still feeling the injury a wee bit but he is back and gives us another option."

John Potter accepted that he had given away a valid penalty but praised the Scottish Football Association's new fast-track appeals procedure that means he won't be missing any games:-

"I am glad that Jason Thomson was there at the time. I thought it was a bit harsh at the time and I am thankful that the panel thought that. When I watched it again and when I spoke to people in the game, everyone came to the same conclusion. But it doesn't really matter about the opinions of players and managers - it's down to the referee and the laws of the game.