The Scottish FA have apologized to Partick Thistle for the error which prevented them from bringing on Ricco Diack as a late substitute in Sunday’s Scottish League Cup decider at Motherwell.
Kris Doolan’s Championship side needed a goal in the final seven minutes to win the game, overtake the hosts at the top of the group and qualify for the last 16.
But as young striker Diack waited on the touchline to come on, he was told he was not on Thistle’s fourth official’s list of substitutes.
Doolan called for a return to paper team lists following officials’ failure to properly use the SFA’s new online administration system, Comet.
“I’m trying to put a striker in to try and win the game and get through,” Doolan told BBC Scotland. “Ultimately it will be worth money to the club if we move forward.
“We challenged him after the game and he’s on the team line. But now it’s all done online. The referees have a screenshot of eight names out of nine… and his name is on the second page.
“Why don’t we go back to the drawing board on the sideline? We can’t allow things like this to happen when the season starts.”
Doolan brought on winger Logan Chalmers instead, but Thistle were unable to open the scoring and the bonus point for winning the penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw was not enough for the Glasgow side to qualify.
Opposition manager Stuart Kettlewell, whose side progressed and will host Kilmarnock in the second round, wondered why Diack was not among the substitutes.
“I saw a team line with his name, but it’s not where the other substitutes are,” he said.
“We know he is a promising young player. We know he is someone who can come in and add something to his front line.
“I can understand Kris’ frustration if it’s something as simple as a clerical error.”
