The Scotsman

Aberdeen unhappy as Devlin appeal is thrown out

- By CRAIG FORBES

Aberdeen have expressed their disappoint­ment after losing their appeal against defender Michael Devlin’s early red card in the 2-0 home defeat by Kilmarnock on Saturday.

The Dons centre-back was sent off by referee Craig Thomson for pulling Eamonn Brophy back after five minutes of the Ladbrokes Premiershi­p encounter as he made to race through on goal.

Devlin was the last man and so was adjudged to have denied Killie a goalscorin­g opportunit­y. The Dons argued in the immediate aftermath, however, that Brophy was a long way from goal and that footage showed the striker had an initial tug on Devlin.

After receiving yesterday’s news that Devlin will now miss Aberdeen’s next game against St Johnstone on 15 September, the club releasedas­tatementwh­ich read: “We are extremely disappoint­ed with this outcome, which will now mean Michael misses our important league match against St Johnstone after the internatio­nal break.

“The club will be making no further comment.”

Pittodrie director Dave Cormack also had his say on social media, tweeting: “In the spirit of transparen­cy, which there should be more of in football, we’ll wait to see the written explanatio­n in the next few days. We produced crystal clear footage of Mikey’s shirt being pulled from 3 different angles at 3 different speeds. And with no retaliator­y kick!”

The decision to throw out Devlin’s appeal comes hot on the heels of the SFA deciding not to punish Rangers goalkeeper Allan Mcgregor for an apparent kick out at Celtic’s Kristoffer Ajer on Sunday.

“This adds to the confusion…” tweeted BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton.

Sportscene analyst Michael Stewart wrote on Twitter: “Someone from the SFA Judicial Panel really needs to start explaining these decisions, because there’s a serious problem developing.

“In the absence of informatio­n, fans and others in the game are forming worrying conclusion­s.”

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