TONY Docherty tonight hit out at the penalty Celtic were awarded against his Dundee team and claimed the Dens Park club had deserved to keep a clean sheet in their William Hill Premiership defeat at Parkhead.

Simon Murray and his team mates performed superbly for the first hour of their league encounter with the defending champions in Glasgow and were still level with their opponents.

But substitute Alistair Johnston broke the deadlock shortly after taking to the field and Arne Engels wrapped up another three points for the home team when he converted a penalty.

Referee Ross Hardie ruled that Antonio Portales had pulled down Kyogo Furuhashi inside the Dundee area and his VAR colleague Matthew MacDermid over at Clydesdale House agreed.

But Docherty was unhappy with their decision and also argued that Mohammed Sylla had been fouled in the build-up. 

“I was really pleased," he said. "I thought it was a stellar effort. A really good, strong performance. It's a difficult place to come. You're playing against a top, top opponent. They're a fantastic team. They move the ball. They get into good areas. But I thought we were so organised against the ball.

“When we got into possession, we made a couple of passes and tried to get into good areas. I was really proud of them. I thought the boys deserved a clean sheet for the amount of work they put in out of possession. 

“I think the penalty is really soft. I think there's a foul that leads up to it on Sylla. I don't know why they don't pick that up. I've seen it back. And I think Antonio touches the ball. He doesn't even know where Kyogo is. 

“Kyogo goes down and Tony's telling me  that he doesn’t think it’s a penalty. I've seen it myself and I don't think it's a penalty. But when it goes to 2-0, that makes it so much more difficult.

“I don't think the boys deserved that. I was really proud of their performance tonight. I thought they were hard done by by that second penalty." 

Asked if he had spoken to the match official after the final whistle, Docherty said: “Very briefly. I just asked if he checked. He said he did check. But I do think there was a strong case that it was a free kick - two hands on Mo's back when he was trying to protect the ball.

“And I do think Antonio gets a touch on the ball. So those two decisions, I think, made the decision for me that it shouldn't be a penalty kick.

“I think that's a performance that does deserve a clean sheet. But you know what? We're not going to make excuses. We're not getting anything, even when that foul's checked for the penalty. I know we're not going to get it. 

“It just seems to be sometimes it's your turn. So we just need to keep working hard and showing the level of commitment that we showed tonight as a team. It'll turn for us.”