RELIEVED ROBINSON ACCEPTS ‘FAIR’ BAN

STEPHEN ROBINSON feared his past disciplinary record might have confined him to the stand for the Betfred Cup final. But the Motherwell boss felt he got a fair hearing after being hit with just a one-match touchline ban for ‘misconduct’ following his dismissal in the semi-final victory over Rangers. It means he will be banned from the dugout for today’s trip to Ross County but can take his place in the Hampden technical area alongside Celtic counterpart Brendan Rodgers on November 26. The Northern Irishman, hauled up for a touchline row with Pedro Caixinha, was subjected to a hearing because of previous offences while No2 at Fir Park, and was made to sweat over a potential two-match suspension which would have seen him banned for the big day. ‘I was quite happy to take that (a one-match ban),’ he said. ‘If I didn’t have any previous incidents in different capacities there probably wouldn’t have been anything to it, but I fully accept the suspension. You’re the head of a football club and you need to act like it. ‘Sometimes emotions take over so, hopefully, that’s a line drawn under it and we can get back to worrying about football. ‘You never know when you go to these things but I had an extremely fair hearing. They took in all the factors and realised I wasn’t the aggressor and didn’t instigate anything.’ Robinson thought he might have ended up in the stand alongside 79-year-old dad Winston, who agreed to come to Hampden after refusing to attend the last-four clash because he was on a caravan holiday. Robinson added: ‘My dad never interfered with anything; he let us get on with it, unlike modern-day parents. ‘We live in an X-Factor world where everyone wants success instantly but my parents weren’t like that. ‘It was hard graft.’