Peat apologises for Iwelumo jibe

Peat says he did not intend to single out Iwelumo for criticism

George Peat insists his comments about Chris Iwelumo's costly miss against Norway have been misconstrued, but he has apologised for causing any upset.

The Scottish FA president said: "The point that I was making was that just a few inches can often be the difference between a win and a draw.

"This has been taken as a criticism of the player and I do regret this.

"It was not what I intended and I am sorry that it has come out this way. I apologise for the mistake."

And he added: "I hope that everyone can now concentrate on the remainder of the campaign."

MY SPORT: DEBATE Give your reaction to Peat's remarks

On Thursday Peat had said: "Had a certain centre forward not missed an open goal in the first match with Norway we would have been three points ahead of Norway at this stage and the pressure just wouldn't have been as great."

The following day Scotland manager George Burley was asked for his opinion on the SFA president's comments.

"We're a team together. We win together, we lose together. It's not one man's fault," Burley replied.

Now, following the manager's call for unified support of the team, the SFA has released this statement just hours before Scotland take on Macedonia.