Hearts Walker Banned For Two Games

Hearts Jamie Walker will miss his side’s next two games after the SFA Disciplinary Committee refused to overturn their offer of a two match ban for ‘an act of simulation’ during the Gorgie team’s 2-1 defeat to Celtic in last Sunday’s Ladbrokes Premiership game at Tynecastle.

Referee John Beaton awarded Hearts a penalty kick believing Walker had been impeded inside the penalty box. Television replays clearly show there was no contact on the Hearts man.

Hearts said on their official club website that they were ‘deeply disappointed with the opinion of the panel’.

Walker will now miss Hearts forthcoming Ladbrokes Premiership games against Aberdeen on Saturday and Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday week.

Meanwhile, Hearts Head Coach Robbie Neilson criticised his team for throwing away a 2-1 lead against St Johnstone in Wednesday evening’s Betfred League Cup tie in Perth.

He told the official club website:  “We’ve been done by not being able to deal with long balls. No matter how much possession of the ball you have, if you can’t deal with long balls it’s unacceptable.

“We’re devastated to be knocked out. We wanted to do well in the cups this season. We did well in possession, we were OK out of possession, but it boils down to a few instances of failing to deal with simple things.

“At this level, if the defenders can’t handle defending long balls, we’re in big trouble if they can’t deal with it. We had good link play and got into good areas, but the defending has cost us. If the centre-halves can’t deal with it, it’s up to them to get rid of the ball, and they haven’t.”