Dundee stood by Paul McGowan yesterday after the midfielder avoided jail following a third police assault conviction.

McGowan will be unable to play evening games for the next 16 weeks — including two upcoming games against Celtic — and will be confined to his home from 7pm to 7am after being placed under a restriction of liberty order.

The player, who will be electronically tagged, was relieved after being spared jail at Airdrie Sheriff Court yesterday morning, a ruling that owed much to his attempts to resolve his gambling and alcohol issues.

The 27-year-old had previously admitted a breach of the peace and assaulting a police officer following a disturbance at a house in Airdrie in the early hours of November 23 last year.

A club statement read: “Dundee FC can confirm midfielder Paul McGowan has been handed a liberty restriction order in court this morning.

“The club does not condone the behaviour which has led to this and wouldn’t from any member of our staff. We fully respect the decision made by the court and Dundee FC will be standing by the player.

“Paul is an integral part of the club and we will be working alongside the PFA with him as he bids to positively resolve his off the field issues.

“With the support of the manager, his teammates and club staff, we hope Paul will be able to move forward and be part of another successful season next year at Dens Park.”

The court heard McGowan had “charged towards” two police officers who attended the disturbance and threatened to kill them if they failed to get out of the house. He was handcuffed and later kicked another officer on the body as his arrest was being processed at Coatbridge police station.

It was McGowan’s third such conviction for assaulting a police officer — while a St Mirren player he was sentenced to 130 hours of unpaid work and handed a one-year supervision order in January 2014 after admitting kicking two officers.