Martin O'Neill dismayed at Auston Trusty red card in 2-2 draw at Tynecastle

Martin O’Neill believes the referee made the wrong decision to reduce his side to ten-men in their 2-2 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle.

Auston Trusty was shown a red card following a VAR check in the top-of-the-table clash in Edinburgh, which leaves the champions trailing in third place.

But the Celtic manager insists that it was “no more of a red card than it was a blue card” and believed it had a bog bearing on the final result.

The Hoops had taken the lead twice thanks to goals from Bejamin Nygren and Yang, and were 2-1 up when the USA international was given his marching orders.

And, while O’Neill believes the draw was a fair result, he was left lamenting the sending off that left his side at a disadvantage in the final stages.

He said: “I did have an argument with the red card,” Celtic boss O’Neill said. “The referee has given a yellow card. Obviously, VAR’s re-refereeing the game.

“First of all, the ball is going away from goal, so the player has to get a hold of that and control it. And secondly, and more importantly, is that we’ve got someone covering.

“That’s what the referee saw in the first place, and he was pretty close to it. It puts you under severe pressure in the last 20-odd minutes.”

O’Neill conceded the point was “maybe” better for Celtic than for Hearts given the red card and the fact they had also played with 10 men for the majority of Thursday’s 2-2 draw away to Bologna.

The Tynecastle stalemate caused Celtic to drop to third place, with city rivals Rangers moving two points above them.

“At one minute to three, we had a tough time, and we still have a tough time,” O’Neill said. “There’s another game gone past, but we’re still in it.

“I was delighted with the effort of the team, because we’re down to 10 men again. It was a tough old match. But the draw is probably a fair result.”

After losing Kieran Tierney to injury in the second half, O’Neill admitted the strain on his depleted squad “is a concern” as he stressed that “definitely we would need some people in” before the transfer window closes next Monday.

Hearts boss Derek McInnes revealed there was disappointment in the home dressing room given the big chances they squandered.

“We’re disappointed we haven’t won,” he said. “But with how the game played out, coming from behind twice against a team of Celtic’s quality, regardless of their exploits on Thursday night, in the cold light of day, it’s not the worst point.

“But we just felt there was a wee bit more out there for us.

“I’m delighted where we are.

“We’re well aware there’s big clubs and good teams desperate to be where we are. We’ve got to be ready for that challenge as we go along. I believe there’s wins in us. If the fans keep that connection with the team that we had today, who knows where it can take us.”