Date set for Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland's appeal

The Scottish Football Association have set a date for a fast track tribunal hearing for Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland. The Edinburgh club today appealed their captain's yellow card for simulation following Saturday's match at Ross County, and the case will be heard within the next 24 hours.

An independent tribunal will take presentations from Hearts and study video footage of the incident on Tuesday, 19 March, at Hampden Park. Ironically, Shankland will be in the vicinity at the time as he is part of the Scotland squad preparing for upcoming friendlies against Netherlands and Northern Ireland.

Hearts officials submitted the necessary paperwork to the SFA on Monday, claiming that their captain was wrongly cautioned by referee Grant Irvine at the weekend. SFA rules allow bookings for simulation to be appealed. Hearts lost 2-1 to Ross County in Dingwall, and Shankland was penalised for simulation during the second half.

He turned away from the Ross County defender Ryan Leak inside the penalty area and went down following a challenge. Video replays showed Leak's leg making contact with Shankland's thigh, but referee Irvine quickly awarded County a foul and issued Shankland a yellow card for diving. The striker argued his case vehemently and spoke exclusively to the Edinburgh News to stress he did not dive in an attempt to win a penalty-kick.

The Hearts head coach Steven Naismith was also unhappy with the referee's decision. "It wasn't a dive by Shankland. There is no simulation," he insisted. "The defender stretches his leg out to block the ball and Shanks goes over. I thought the ref was naive to show a [yellow] card. I think he could have let the game go, I don't think it was a foul, no-one looked for a foul."