Dundee United's Edwards denies Partick Thistle punch accusation

Dundee United defender Ryan Edwards has denied any wrongdoing after being accused of punching Partick Thistle striker Brian Graham.

Thistle boss Ian McCall claimed Edwards had “hooked” his player after being made aware of an off-the-ball incident by one of his backroom staff.

When asked for his version of what happened during the Scottish Cup tie, which United won 2-1 after a controversial stoppage-time winner, Edwards said: “Obviously we weren’t at our best on the day and it turned into a good, hard-fought win. We weren’t at our best and it was just a good battle, I think that’s what it was.

“I don’t know what their manager said but it was just two teams on the day trying to get into the next round.

“I’m not sure what their staff have made of it but I’m just delighted to be in the next round.”

When McCall’s allegations were detailed to him, Edwards said: “I think the incident he is on about was a throw-in and I just went up for a header, and that’s all that happened.

“You can’t say something you have not seen, can you? Nothing happened in terms of that that I am aware of.”

Referee Steven McLean took no action and with television footage not picking up any incident, Edwards avoided any retrospective action from the Scottish Football Association.