Kilmarnock appeal red card shown to Kyle Vassell against Hibernian

Kilmarnock have submitted an appeal against the red card shown to Kyle Vassell in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Hibernian.

Vassell was dismissed by referee John Beaton for a high challenge on Hibs defender Marijan Cabraja in the second half at Easter Road. Beaton initially showed a yellow card to the Killie forward but VAR officials invited him to review his decision and the decision was made to upgrade to a red.

The Rugby Park club have now appealed the decision, meaning it will be examined by an independent panel on Wednesday.

Speaking after the match, Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes was furious with the call, pointing out that Beaton had a good view of the incident for the initial decision, and saying that his player had no intention of endangering his opponent.

“There’s no sense that it was a bad challenge,” McInnes said. “You can sniff a red card, there’s a sense that something’s happened which makes you feel a bit uneasy.

“John deals with it at the time. He’s standing right next to it. We move on. I didn’t even think it was a yellow.

“Kyle’s tried to pull out. I think the Hibs player’s went forward into him. Kyle’s got his eyes on the ball the whole time. He tries to keep his foot still, there’s no forward movement.

“They’re in a sanitised room over 50 miles away watching that over and over again, telling the referee you need to have a look at that, that’s a red card.

“The game’s gone mad. That’s not a red card. I’m sick to death of this VAR. It was our turn this week, there will likely be someone else in Scotland today who has suffered as well.

“An experienced referee dealt with the incident. Yet it goes all the way to them and they put pressure on him to look at it differently. It’s no a red card.”