Penalty setback but Levein just focused on cup

HEARTS: Boss ‘satisfied’ with SPFL fine

Hearts manager Craig Levein insists the Gorgie outfit are satisfied with the twopoint penalty imposed by the SPFL, even though they now face an uphill struggle to reach the Betfred Cup second round.

The punishment was imposed following a disciplinary hearing at Hampden on Monday, where Hearts were represented by owner Ann Budge, after the ineligible Andy Irving played in last Wednesday’s 2-1 Group C victory over Cove Rangers.

The midfielder came on as a 65th minute substitute when Hearts were winning 2-0, but the Edinburgh club admitted a day later that the 18-year-old’s official registration expired on June 9 because his contract extension was not properly submitted to the Scottish FA in January.

The sanctions, which includes a £10,000 fine, £8,000 of which is suspended until the end of next season, leave Hearts on three points, two adrift of Inverness and Cowdenbeath, whom they host this evening.

Levein, whose side picked up a bonus point with a penalty shoot-out win over Raith Rovers on Saturday, said: “We’re satisfied with the outcome of the hearing.

“Every case needs to be judged on its merits and that’s what the panel did; they considered all of the arguments before making their decision.

“I put Andy on the pitch as a young boy just to get some experience.

“We were winning 2-0 when he went on and we ended up winning 2-1 so we got no competitive advantage from it whatsoever.

“We can now focus fully on our match against Cowdenbeath at Tynecastle, knowing exactly what we have to do to get out of the group. Our aim is to progress in this competition and we’ll be going all out to do just that.”

Hearts wrap up the section with the visit of Inverness on Sunday.

SNS. Craig Levein was ‘satisifed’ with outcome.