Kilmarnock's Michael Nelson was full of sympathy for Hibs' Paul Cairney who was booked for simulation after being tackled in the box tackle. The goals had been scored in the first-half by Hibs striker Eoin Doyle and the visitors' Paul Heffernan when the former Partick Thistle player was shown a yellow card by referee Bobby Madden, the caution taking him over the disciplinary threshold which brings a one-game ban. Crainey went down in the box when challenged by Nelson who denied admitting it was a certain penalty . Nelson said: "There was contact but how far down he was when the contact was made, I don't know, we will have to see it again. As he slipped the ball to the side he was already going down. It could have gone either way but the referee seen it so I am not going to argue. But it is probably doubly harsh that the lad got booked as well. Just because the referee doesn't think it was a penalty doesn't automatically make it is a dive so I think it is harsh when it happens to people. It might lead to the lad getting suspension further down the line so he probably feels hard done by and we wouldn't feel too happy if that happened to us. But by all accounts there was a penalty (for us) in the first half when (Mahamadou) Sissoko was pulled back at a corner." When the two sides met in September, Killie manager Kenny Shiels accused Cairney of playing for a penalty by making deliberate contact with Ryan O'Leary. The award was converted by Leigh Griffiths to allow Hibs to secure a 2-1 win . Cairney, however, insisted that there was no ambiguity about Sunday's claim. He said: "I don't care what people say, I know it was a stonewaller. I have seen it in the replay and it was a stonewaller. The boy caught me. I am an honest player and I asked the boy after the game if it was a penalty and he said yes so that was disappointing. Obviously the referee thought it was a dive but it definitely wasn't so I was disappointed it wasn't a penalty." As for his forthcoming ban, he said: "It is disappointing especially when we have got a lot of good players. If somebody comes in and does well I will just have to fight hard to get my place back."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
