Poyet hits out at BBC team for 'lack of knowledge'

Gus Poyet, the Brighton manager , has criticised the BBC commentary team at Tuesday's Spain v Scotland match for their lack of knowledge of players outside the Premier League. Craig Mackail-Smith, the Brighton striker, impressed for the Scots in a 3-1 defeat, but Poyet was "embarrassed" by comments made by the team of Mark Lawrenson, a former Brighton player, and Guy Mowbray.

"'I didn't know he was so quick', 'I didn't know he could play on his own up front' – you didn't know too many things," Poyet said. "If you are a commentator you should know. If not, you [should not be] on TV. I would accept someone saying you didn't know a player from Liechtenstein. But Mackail-Smith? Come on. It's Scotland, we're not talking about a team from the middle of Asia."

Lawrenson is not the first former player employed as a pundit by the BBC to be accused of being under-researched. Last year Alan Shearer received a broadside from Stan Collymore. "The MOTD panel are broadcasters, so not knowing [Newcastle's] Hatem Ben Arfa and admitting to not knowing much about Slovakia isn't an option," Collymore said.