Jackson makes claim of late goal

Last updated : 24 April 2010 By BBC Sport

And Jackson, who has been plagued with injuries for two years, was desperate to see his name back on the scoresheet.

"Before I went to hit it, it hit a bobble and hit off me. It's my goal anyway - I'm claiming it," he said.

"Hopefully, that's my injuries out the way - maybe I've got them out the way at an early age.

"It's been a long two years, but I'm delighted to be back.

"The fans were brilliant when I came on. When I scored, they were singing my name."

Saints manager McInnes was unhappy with what he viewed as time-wasting by Nelson throughout the match.

"I couldn't be more delighted with that as well, because he was annoying me," said McInnes when told about Nelson being credited with the own goal.

With another five or 10 minutes, we possibly could've won it but it was too little too late to win the game

St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes

"I thought it was poor how long he was taking at kick-outs.

"If Jackson scored, great for him; and if it's the keeper's own goal then I'm not too disappointed with that either.

"Andy Jackson's had a really hard time with injuries. He's had a frustrating time on loan at Arbroath - it never worked the way we wanted it to.

"We had to come back and pick him up, but he's picked himself up today and he deserves a lot of credit for that."

McInnes bemoaned the lethargic nature of his side's 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park.

"It was a bit flat and had a kind of end-of-season fell to it, which we're stressing we don't want," said McInnes.

"There's nothing worse than that. We hate having nothing to play for. Of course we're glad we're out of the relegation dogfight.

"We've got a lot to prove and a lot to work for with the next three games."

The home side started well but fell behind to a Steven MacLean goal.

"We started the game really brightly," said McInnes. "We had a real impetus, forced a few opportunities and the keeper had a couple of saves.

"When the goal didn't come, we ended up losing a really sloppy goal. I thought it was a free-kick in the build-up to it, Dave MacKay was blocked off, but we should still deal with it better than that.

"We let the goal affect us a wee bit and it looked like a huge effort to get us up to speed, but credit to the players for keeping going. Once we got that goal, there only looked like one winner.

"The subs made an impact, none more so than wee Andy Jackson. With another five or 10 minutes, we possibly could've won it, but it was too little too late to win the game."

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport