Teale Vows To Learn From Suspension

Photo by Jeff Holmes St Mirren manager Gary Teale has vowed to clean up his act after being hit with a two-game ban for criticising referee Steven McLean. The Buddies boss was issued with a notice of complaint after comments made in the wake last month's 2-1 defeat to Dundee. Teale hit out at the official after he gave striker Yoann Arquin a second yellow card for diving before savaging him for awarding Gary Irvine's leveller for the Dees. The Scottish Football Association charge stated he breached disciplinary rule 72 by making comments in an interview posted on St Mirren's Twitter page and the SPFL YouTube account that "criticised the performance of the match officials in a manner which indicated bias or incompetence on their part". Although he later called McLean to apologise, the former Scotland winger has now been banned from sitting in the dugout when his side take on Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday, with the second game suspended until the end of the season. But Teale insists he has learned his lesson and will not speak out of turn again. He said: "I'm disappointed to be banned for Saturday's match. However, I'm a young manager and I will learn from my mistakes." Meanwhile, Teale is inching towards offering former Rangers midfielder Alan Gow a contract. The 32-year-old free agent has spent the last 10 days training with St Mirren and Teale admits he could hand him a deal before Saturday's Aberdeen trip. But the Buddies manager says he needs more time to assess trialists Tomasz Sokolowski and Viktor Genev before making a final decision on snapping them up. Teale said: "We've had a few boys in training with us this week and it's very difficult because they need to be better than what I've already got. "Any guys I'd be able to bring in have not played an awful lot of football over the last three or four months and we've only got 10 weeks left of the season. "So you are going to be playing catch-up trying to get them up to match speed. "But I might just have to take a chance on someone. We've had Alan Gow in and he is maybe one I will look to do something with. "He's been here for 10 days and the longer he's here the sharper he gets." Poland-born former Norwegian international midfielder Sokolowski, 29, has spent the last 12 years playing in Scandinavia with Lyn, Viking, Brann and Stabaek. Bulgarian defender Genev, meanwhile, started his career with Levski Sofia but his most recent club was Kazhak side Spartak Semey. "We've had a lad in from Norway and another from Bulgaria on trial as well," said Teale. "But whether I go and do anything with them I don't know. "They have not had much time to show up in training yet so I may have to keep them a bit longer and give them a chance to show us what they can do." Saints know if results go against them this weekend, they could sink to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership once again. They travel to Pittodrie to face a Dons side flying high in second but the Granite City has been a welcoming destination for the Paisley men, with just one defeat in their last eight visits. That is the sort of record which will bring cheer to a side which has not managed a single home league win all season. "We need to go up there with a gameplan that will help us to get a result," he said. "While our home form has been poor this season, our away record is not too bad. "Maybe there is a wee bit of pressure off us going to Aberdeen as well. No-one will give us a prayer but we believe we can spring a surprise."