Craig Levein tells Tony Docherty he went too far as St Johnstone boss launches over the phone Liam Gordon defence

Craig Levein has accused Tony Docherty of going over the top in claiming Liam Gordon’s challenge on Michael Mellon was “almost life-endangering”.

The St Johnstone manager was alarmed to learn of Docherty’s remarks about his captain’s role in the flashpoint on Sunday. And Levein vehemently defended Gordon in a clear-the-air phone conversation with the Dark Blues boss. Mellon, on loan from Burnley, was knocked out in a sickening clash of heads in Dundee’s 2-1 victory and attended to at Ninewells Hospital. But Levein has stressed that Docherty’s criticism of Gordon went too far.

Levein said: “His choice of words was inappropriate. I thought it was a strong challenge, the ball was there to be won. And, if Gordy hadn’t gone for it, I would have been shouting at him. Gordy actually wins the ball. It’s sickening when you see someone going down like that and you know immediately that it’s been a head knock. It’s worse when you see a player flop down because you know they’ve maybe gone unconscious.

“But Gordy is one of the best professionals I’ve ever worked with, he is a very decent human being. So he had as much concern about the young lad as everyone else did. We are all on the same page about that, it was sad to see it happen.”

Fuming Dundee hierarchy have demanded answers from the SFA over ref David Munro’s handling of the incident which came late in the contest. The referee permitted play to continue while both players were stricken.

Dr Derek McCormick sensed Mellon was in danger and, despite not being waved on, entered the pitch to tend to him. Mellon was discharged from hospital and is continuing his recovery under supervision of club medics.

Levein added: “One thing we agreed upon was that the referee playing on was