‘I’m sorry’ McGlynn tells Raith Rovers supporters

McGlynn received his marching orders from the dugout in the 13th minute after venting his fury towards referee Lloyd Wilson, who he believed missed a blatant push on defender Fernandy Mendy in the build-up to the opening goal in the 3-0 win for the visitors.

Though adamant the whistler got it wrong, McGlynn says he feels “embarrassed” by his outburst and wants to say sorry to the club’s fans.

“I’ve apologised to the players, I’ve apologised to (assistant manager) Paul Smith, the backroom staff and the board of directors.

“And I also want to apologise to the fans,” he said.

“Walking from the dug out to go up to the directors’ box, most of the fans were clapping and cheering.

“But there was a part of me that was a bit embarrassed, because I’ve left Paul in the dugout himself.

“Although there was a vast amount of supporters supporting me, I’m sure there are others who would be saying I should know better and shouldn’t get caught up in something like that.

“I didn’t show any appreciation to the fans on Saturday. I would have liked to but I was trying to be respectful to everyone, so I would like to say thanks to the fans for that support.”

McGlynn says he felt so aggrieved as the goal came during what he felt was a significant time in the game.

“Dundee had started better and the goal came 13 minutes in and that was a crucial moment in the game.

“We were under pressure but I didn’t think we had been in any danger of losing a goal, so when it came like it did, I tried to fight our corner by protesting. I obviously went a bit too far. I’ll just have to take any punishment that comes my way and move on.”

Despite the controversy surrounding the opening goal, McGlynn concedes Dundee played “very well”.

“Sometimes you will play against a team who are better than you, and they were very good. We won’t play against a team in League One who are as good as that, so we must give them credit.

“But, without having a great cutting edge, I thought we settled down in the game and passed the ball very well.

“We had some good moments but we have lost two very soft goals, albeit I think they were both free kicks in the build-up and I won’t change my mind on that, but they were soft and can be easily prevented, so that’s what we’ll set out to do.”

Though they lost the first competitive game of the season, McGlynn is pleased with the way his new signings are settling in and says he has a strong squad at his disposal.

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“Ross Munro has played three games now and has acquitted himself very well. His distribution is very good and he gets the game going at a quicker tempo which is what I’m looking for.

“Kieran MacDonald has done a good job so far and is very reliable, he’s got good energy and will do very well for us.

“Fernandy has been a big hit with the fans. Saturday was maybe a bit of a wake-up call for him getting closed down a bit quicker that he is used to, but he’ll learn from that.”

“As we’ve seen in the friendly matches Regan Hendry is great on the ball. He’s very composed which we knew he would be and he can hurt the opposition.

“Brad Spencer’s come in, linking up in a three-man central midfield and the qualities we saw him display at Forfar are what we are seeing now.

“Grant Anderson has got himself a couple of goals in preseason and will cause League One defenders problems throughout the season

“Lewis Allan didn’t have great service on Saturday but certainly put himself about, held the ball up and found his team mates.

“Joao Victoria is certainly going to be a danger. He’s got great feet and when he gets his first goal he’ll kick on. You can see how positive he is. When he gets the ball he drives forward and takes players on.

“It doesn’t always come off but over the course of a season it will more that it doesn’t.

“We’ve got a very versatile player in Michael Millar, which is really good from my point of view. It’s very early in the season but he’ll be pushing for a start.

“Everone is playing their part and it’s gelling well together.”

Rovers next two Betfred Cup ties games see them travel to Inverness on Saturday, before welcoming Peterhead to Kirkcaldy next Tuesday.

The two sides met on Tuesday night in a 0-0 draw with Peterhead taking the bonus point after a penalty shoot-out

McGlynn said: “In Inverness we’re playing a Championship team who were in the play-off to get to the Premiership last season and who got to the Scottish Cup semi-final, so it’s going to be very difficult.

“It’s away from home against a good side who have done quite well in their preseason.

“They skelped two Highland League sides, they’ve drawn with Hearts and Aberdeen and they’ve beaten St. Johnstone.

But football being football, it’s 11 v 11. So we’re going there to cause them problems.

“Peterhead have just come up from League Two and have some good, experienced players. They’ll want to do well aginst us and prove that they should be in League One.

“We need to get over the Inverness game first but when we look at the next two gamnes, Peterhead at home and Cove away, we’ll be looking to get two wins that will give us good momentum to start the league campaign on August 3 against Dumbarton.”