If a colleague thinks you dropped the ball on something, but there is a very good reason / explanation that exonerates you, but the explanation is complicated and likely to look like you’re just making an excuse, and the consequences of the ball-dropping are not significant and are easily rectified, is it better to give the explanation to show that it wasn’t your fault, or better just to accept the judgment and get on with fixing it since it’s not really a big deal?
In case it’s relevant - the colleague is someone I rarely work with, so they don’t know that I am usually reliable and not a ball-dropper. They aren’t my line manager or superior or even part of the same department. They are more qualified than me, but we work in totally different areas save for this one project where we keep in touch due to a shared client.