MacKenzie left bloodied by seat thrown by own fans

Aberdeen defender Jack MacKenzie was left bloodied after being struck by part of a seat - thrown by one of his own fans - amid a pitch invasion following his side's Scottish Premiership defeat at Dundee United.

Unused substitute MacKenzie was on the pitch while the United ers invaded the playing surface after their side denied Aberdeen fourth place.

And he was felled by the piece of plastic hurled from the upper deck of the Fair Play Stand, which housed a travelling restricted in number after objects were aimed at United manager Jim Goodwin in the last meeting at Tannadice.

Aberdeen said in a statement MacKenzie suffered "a serious facial injury".

The club added it is "dismayed and outraged" by the incident and said they know "for sure" the chair thrown came from the part of the stand their fans were housed in.

They urged any ers with information to the club and vowed to take "the strongest possible action available to us" if a culprit is identified.

Police Scotland confirmed MacKenzie was treated at the scene and will require further medical assessment.

They have also appealed for information and asked that anyone who witnessed the incident or has footage to them.

Match Commander, Superintendent Ray Birnie, said: "This was a mindless act which has seriously injured the player, resulting in him needing medical treatment.

"This type of behaviour will not be tolerated and I'd appeal to all fans to help us trace the person responsible.

"If you were in the Fair Play Stand and witnessed what happened, please do the right thing and come forward. I'd also urge anyone who has mobile phone footage to review it and bring anything of importance to our attention."

Goodwin, who has experienced similar incidents in on previous occasions in which he managed United against former club Aberdeen, labelled the scenes "a disgrace".

"I deliberately took myself off the pitch as quickly as I could because we've had previous with the Aberdeen ers," he said.

"I'm really disappointed to hear young Jack has been hit by an object thrown by his own ers. He's inside having stitches now, it's an absolute disgrace.

"It's probably taken something as serious as this to happen for the authorities to finally step in and do something about it to identify these idiots who let down a really good club."

United are yet to comment on the incident, but the SPFL critised the "moronic behaviour".

"It's enormously disappointing and frustrating that one of the most exciting games in the season has been marred by such moronic behaviour," a statement read.

"We await the match delegate report but will work closely with both clubs and Police Scotland to help identify the perpetrator and fully expect that appropriately severe footballing and judicial sanctions will be imposed."