Oakley aims to bounce back from shock red card

HAMILTON striker George Oakley admits he was shocked by the first red card of his career, but he will not change his style as he still does not know what he did to merit the sending-off.

Oakley returns for tomorrow’s Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Rangers at Ibrox after picking up two bookings and a suspension from inexperienced referee David Munro during a goalless draw with St Mirren.

Oakley was amazed when he received a second yellow card after making little contact with St Mirren defender Sean McLoughlin as they challenged for a high ball.

“It was a shock,” the former Inverness forward said. “You don’t know what to say.

“As the game is going the ref has to make a decision on what he’s seen and what he saw I don’t know. Obviously I watched it. I hadn’t seen it before I watched Sportscene, I’d seen a picture, but they [the pundits] were saying they were shocked.

“I was shocked but you can’t do anything about it. If it was a straight red then maybe we could [appeal] but two yellows you can’t.

“That’s the first red card in my career. It was a hard one to take but I can’t change that now. I really didn’t know what I did but you can’t dwell on it. It’s gone and I’ve served my game ban and now I’m just looking forward to the next game, which is obviously a big one against Rangers.

“It was hard to sit out, I hate sitting out games, and it was harder when you know you can play.”

Oakley will not change his style. The 23-year-old added: “I’m not going to stop doing what I do up there, keep throwing myself about and do the best for myself and the team. If I get another red for it, I get another red for it.”

Oakley is excited about tomorrow’s challenge.

“When I first came to Hamilton we played Rangers at home but I haven’t been to Ibrox before, so it’s going to be a good experience,” he said. “As a player you want to play on one of the biggest stages in football and Rangers is one of them, the history of the club.

“Even when you are down in England you have Celtic and Rangers supporters everywhere, so you know everything about them.

“So it’ll be a good experience for myself and I’m looking forward to it.

“It’ll be a difficult game but the way we’ve been playing and defensively how strong we’ve been, I’m looking forward to it.”