Levein is unhappy at Dougal's handling of Wilkie's injury

Dundee United boss Craig Levein has made an official complaint to the SPL match delegate about Stuart Dougal.

Levein was angry at the referee's demeanour after United captain Lee Wilkie was hurt in a tackle by Scott McDonald in the 2-1 defeat by Celtic.

"Stuart Dougal might want to look at the stud mark on Lee's shin instead of showing an amazing amount of arrogance and telling him to get up," he said.

"And he came over, speaking to me in a manner I thought was disgusting."

Dougal was taking charge of only his fourth Scottish Premier League fixture of the season because of injury.

He appeared to miss Celtic striker McDonald's high tackle on Wilkie after half an hour of the game in Glasgow.

And it was only Wilkie's team-mate Lukasz Zaluska kicked out of play that Dougal allowed the United defender to receive treatment.

"He told Lee to get up, but he wasn't play-acting and it was obvious," Levein told BBC Scotland.

he said, quite arrogantly, that his kids had had bigger knocks than that Dundee United captain Lee Wilkie

"The less said about his performance the better."

The United skipper, who missed three years of his career because of a series of knee injuries, said:"McDonald caught me just below the knee, I don't think it was intentional but I still got caught.

"I said to the referee at half time, 'what were you playing at?' and he said, quite arrogantly, that his kids had had bigger knocks than that, which was a stupid comment to make - his kids must be some size.

"All he needed to say was that he thought I never got touched but he had to make a silly comment.

"I told him that my knees were bad enough without getting any treatment but he didn't seem bothered.

"It was my good knee, not my left knee, but I got a fright and he should have been aware of the problems with my knees.

"Referees want respect from players and they treat them in that way and that's what annoys us."

After a period of treatment at the side of the pitch the defender was able to return to play the remainder of the match.

Wilkie's boss Levein reported his dissatisfaction over Dougal's demeanour in the moments following the incident to the SPL match observer Kevin Collins at full-time.

Levein's outspoken views have got him into trouble with the Scottish Football Association in the past.

Most notably, the United boss received a £5,000 fine for criticising referee Mike McCurry's display during United's 3-1 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox in May 2008.

After making his point on Tuesday night at Celtic Park, he preferred to move quickly on to his analysis of the match.

"Let's not talk about that, it was a great game," he said.

"Both teams got the ball down and passed it about and entertained everybody that watched it tonight.

"It was a great credit to all 22 players who were on the pitch."

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