McNulty warned to fight for place
JACK ROSS insists there is no guarantee Marc McNulty will walk straight back into the Hibernian side after the Easter Road outfit officially accepted the consequences of his moment of madness against Hearts.
The 27-year-old will miss the pivotal Premiership fixture against Aberdeen tomorrow after being served with a notice of complaint by the Scottish FA for his stamp on Sean Clare during Tuesday night’s derby loss.
Hibs formally accepted the offer of a two-game ban last night rather than seek a Hampden hearing on Monday. As a result, McNulty will be immediately suspended for the trip to Pittodrie and subsequent visit of St Johnstone, likely affording young Jamie Gullan the chance to further enhance his reputation.
And the Hibs head coach hopes he has a selection headache when the Scotland internationalist returns from his enforced spell on the sideline.
“The broadcast footage isn’t great from Marc’s point of view,” conceded Ross. “I’m not being dismissive of incidents which happen but, equally, there’s a lot of things that happen in split seconds in football.
“In games like Tuesday’s, there are a lot of decisions that are not in alignment with what they might normally do.
“If there are repetitive instances – inappropriate or indisciplined behaviour – it gives you more of a headache, but this is miles away from that.
“But this presents an opportunity for someone else and, if they take that chance, Marc would have to work his way back in.”