Houston said his players were bruised after the St Johnstone derby

Dundee United boss Peter Houston says ref Brian Winter's failure to send off St Johnstone's Steven Anderson, who was booked twice, was an honest mistake.

Winter showed sub Anderson a yellow card for a foul on David Goodwillie in the 72nd minute and booked him later for another foul on the same player.

Anderson, though, stayed on the pitch, but Houston defended the referee.

He said: "Brian is an honest referee. If he made an error it'll be an honest one. I hope he's not punished for it."

And the Scotland assistant manager added: "It was a difficult game to handle because there were a few tackles flying in here, there and everywhere. He has obviously just had a wee mix-up."

The mistake seems to have been caused by Winter not writing Anderson's name in his book when he cautioned him for the first offence.

Referee Winter steps between Anderson and Goodwillie

It is possible that the experienced referee was distracted by the melee that followed Anderson's foul, where the St Johnstone player accused Goodwillie of making the most of the challenge and Winter had to brandish four more cards to those who had become embroiled in the incident.

When Winter booked Anderson the second time and did not show the player a red card, he was called to the technical area by the fourth official and could be seen consulting the names in his book.

The linesman on the far side of the pitch also indicated he would like to discuss something with him but, after a brief consultation, Winter re-started the match with Anderson included.

As for United's victory, Houston was delighted at the contribution made by Goodwillie, whose goal was the difference between the Tayside rivals.

"David has matured greatly. I think he is a fantastic football player," he said.

"Last season was his first real season playing every week in the SPL. It is always the test of a young player, his second season.

"After the first couple of weeks he felt he wasn't playing at his best and I thought that as well.

"We kept him in there, he has dug in and he is now starting to look like the player that had loads of English and Scottish teams watching him.

"He has made great efforts. His work rate is fantastic and his overall play is great striker play."

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