Hearts appeal red card against Aberdeen and 'note with interest' Hibs incident

The defender was sent off at Pittodrie on Saturday after bringing down Toyosi Olusanya from behind as the Aberdeen striker closed in on goal. Kevin Nisbet converted the resulting penalty to complete Aberdeen’s stoppage-time comeback and secure a 2-1 victory.

A Hearts statement read: “Given our player’s genuine attempt to play the ball, we do not feel that a red card was merited and, as such, will be making that case to the Scottish FA.

“We note with interest a near-identical incident during Motherwell’s win over (Hibernian) which resulted in a yellow card for Oscar Priestman, not a red.

“Being forced to highlight the consistency, or lack thereof, in refereeing decisions after only one match of the new Scottish Premiership season is not a situation we wish to find ourselves in.

“However, given the lengthy, worldwide debate around this topic last season, the club feels it is only right to inform our supporters that not only do we share their grievances, we are also taking appropriate action to rectify the matter.

“We trust that, on this occasion, justice will be served.”

Refereeing decisions came into sharp focus in the final weeks of last season as Hearts saw their lead slip to Celtic in the closing minutes of the campaign.

Scottish Football Association head of referees Willie Collum later admitted Hearts should have been awarded a penalty in their 1-1 draw with Motherwell in the penultimate weekend of the season.

Then-Hearts manager Derek McInnes was handed a touchline ban following his move to Rangers after describing a match-winning stoppage-time penalty award to Celtic at Fir Park days later as “disgusting” and claiming “it feels like us against everybody”.