Kilmarnock boss banned by SFA after Rangers red card as referee gives take on Rugby Park decisions

Kettlewell was shown a red card by referee Kevin Clancy after kicking a water bottle and remonstrating with fourth official Dan McFarlane over decisions which went against his side.

Killie were aggrieved after being denied a penalty when Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande appeared to pull back David Watson off the ball as he entered the box.

There were also claims from the home side that Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland should have been sent off after racing out of his box and wiping out Bruce Anderson in the act of clearing the ball.

Killie assistant Steven Frail addressed both incidents as he assumed media duties after the match.

“There’s contact, and the pull continues into the box," he stated in reference to the penalty claim. "We feel there should have been something there, but again it goes against us."

‘For us it looks like a red card’

Frail also felt Butland's tackle on striker Anderson merited a sending off, adding: “At 2–0, in our view Bruce gets there first and we think it’s reckless. For us it looks like a red card. If that happens, it’s 10 v 11 for the last 15 minutes and you never know - you get one goal back and the whole place changes.

“We don’t usually concede goals by being carved open, and yet we’ve given up a few soft ones. That’s on us. We’ll analyse that because those are the things we have to fix.

“When you feel big decisions are going against you, it’s hard not to show emotion. He (Kettlewell) works incredibly hard for this club, and he’ll be hurting tonight. But he’ll go again - we all will.”

Kilmarnock have now confirmed that Kettlewell has been suspended for the trip to Aberdeen on Sunday.

A club statement read: "We can confirm that manager Stuart Kettlewell will be suspended for one match following a sending off in the match against Rangers. This suspension will be effective immediately, and will be served during the match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. The Club accepts this ruling and will make no further comment."

Former EPL referee gives expert take on incidents

The Rugby Park decisions were scrutinised on Sky Sports Ref Watch on Monday with former Premier League official Dermot Gallagher offering an opinion that Butland did not merit a red card due to the positioning of James Tavernier.

“I don’t think it’s a red card," he said. "Tavernier gets round the back. If you watch, this is where the forward nicks the ball, there’s Tavernier going round the back. The ball was going to go wide to the left so I think not a red card, for me.”

Gallagher did feel, however, that Kilmarnock could have had a spot kick for Diomande's tug on Watson, which was reportedly deemed to have been outside the box by VAR Gavin Duncan.

Asked if he was certain the correct call had been made, Gallagher replied: "I'm not, because if it's a trip, there's a line there and you know where he's tripped him.

"When you grab hold of someone's shirt they often keep going, so once they travel past the line and he's still got a hold of his shirt, the referee is well within his rights to give a penalty."