Tesselaar denies Paisley remarks

St Mirren defender Jeroen Tesselaar has denied making disparaging remarks about Paisley after reports of his interview in a Dutch magazine sparked controversy.

The Dutch left-back claims some comments from the reporter of Voetbal International have been wrongly attributed to him, including a description of the club's home town as a "s***hole''.

Tesselaar, who is in his second spell at St Mirren following a stint with Kilmarnock, spoke out after translations of the article appeared in Scottish newspapers.

In a statement on his club's official website, the 26-year-old said: When translated into English the majority of the article is very negative and most quotes are not what I said and others are observations of the reporter which seem now to have been attributed to me!

"For example the reporter arrived at the stadium to do a piece on my football and photography and got a taxi from the airport, he told me about his journey and how the taxi driver had described Paisley as a s***hole yet somehow this has now been written that I said this!

"I enjoyed living in Paisley the first time I was here for a year and many of my photographs on my website are of Paisley and the surrounding area showing the town and area in a very positive light. I told the reporter that I live in Glasgow now as my girlfriend works there and so it was more suitable.''

Reports claimed Tesselaar said some Saints fans spend more money on following their team than they spend on their family, while he is also said to have talked about the rough nature of Scottish football and the focus on running without the ball in pre-season training.

His clarification statement continued: I have great respect for the St Mirren fans as I told the reporter, Paisley is not a rich town yet the supporters follow the club very passionately home and away and the club is very important to them, yet this seems to have been turned against me too.

I am also really disappointed that some quotes attributed to me must be the reporter's opinion, for example swearing and his description of St Mirren Park. I came back to St Mirren as I loved being here the first time and I enjoy my football here.''

Tesselaar, who apparently told the reporter he was keen to leave Scotland in the summer, faces a big game against Hamilton on Saturday as Saints bid to get out of relegation danger.

And he said: I'm also disappointed that I have to deal with this issue when we are preparing for yet another big game this weekend. The fans should be in no doubt that I have a lot of affection for them and our club and my efforts are always to do the best for them and the club, on and off the park.''