Hearts' Lawrence Shankland reveals referee Nick Walsh's explanation for Alex Cochrane's red card against Celtic

The Tynecastle captain said he held a conversation with the official following the controversial decision.

Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland has revealed details of a conversation with referee Nick Walsh in the aftermath of Alex Cochrane’s red card against Celtic. The official’s decision to dismiss the Tynecastle defender proved controversial and Shankland divulged Walsh’s explanation for it.

With the scoreline at 0-0, Cochrane initially received a yellow card from the match official for pulling back Celtic winger Daizen Maeda. VAR then advised Walsh to review the incident on a touchline monitor, after which he issued Cochrane a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The Hearts defender Kye Rowles was in attendance to potentially intercept the ball but that did not sway Walsh. Celtic went on to win 2-0 and secure the Premiership title. Shankland gave his thoughts on the matter and said he approached the referee at the time to question why the caution became a dismissal. “I wasn’t sure. I was surprised it got checked initially,” admitted the striker.

“I thought he maybe would have looked at it and stuck with his decision. When he gave Alex the yellow card, I thought it was dealt with. When I went and spoke to him, he said there was no defender there covering. I had to take his word for it at the time before I could see it back.

“We had our gameplan and knew what we wanted to implement. Things were going pretty well. We had to be comfortable out of possession. Celtic have the majority of the ball in most games so we had to find comfort in that. Obviously, we were trying to break and be effective.

“It was fairly even, and even when Alex gets sent off, we are in the game probably until the hour mark. There was pressure but it felt pretty comfortable. They get the [first] goal and it’s pretty hard to come back from that.”

Clarity and consistency are too often absent from refereeing decisions, even with the use of VAR this season. “That’s it. There hasn’t been much clarity. I think there have been hiccups throughout the season,” continued Shankland. “What is an obvious mistake and what isn’t? There is no real definition for that.

Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland is bemused after referee Nick Walsh sent Alex Cochrane off at Tynecastle.

“If they felt it had to get checked, it is what it is. You can’t really control that. The red card happened. After that, we still played pretty well at times. We had to be really disciplined defensively to try and frustrate Celtic. They got the breakthrough and went on to get the second.”

The intensity of Hearts’ performance with 11 men saw them press Celtic back and threaten several times in the opening period. Fans were encouraged by the passion and energy, which was also evident in the 6-1 victory over Ross County before the league split.

“We showed it against Ross County and we looked to do the same on Sunday,” acknowledged Shankland. “It goes without saying that Celtic have a bit more quality, no disrespect. You need to be a bit more disciplined defensively and try to break on them. Everything we worked on was going well and still went well after the red card. The boys stood up to it. There are ways to lose games and Sunday was probably one of the more acceptable ones.”

Hearts’ next two matches – away at St Mirren and home against Aberdeen – were labelled “season-defining” by interim manager Steven Naismith following Sunday’s defeat. Aberdeen are sitting third, five points ahead of the Edinburgh club, who held a seven-point cushion in that very position as recently as February.

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland and his teammates wore T-shirts pre-match to support research into MND

“Aye, pretty much. All the games after the split are huge,” agreed Shankland. “We know the importance of trying to get points on the board. Aberdeen are above us and we need to get as many points as possible in the last four games, not just the next two.”

Asked if Hearts failing to finish third would be an opportunity missed, Shankland replied candidly. “Probably, aye, because of the situation we were in,” he said. “Before the World Cup we were eight points behind so it’s been up-and-down. If we aren’t third when the season finishes then we haven’t been good enough over the full season. It won’t come down to a certain point or a certain game. We are still hopeful, we believe in what we are doing and we've got important games coming up.

“We had a wee bad run and it cost us our position. That’s all it takes, it can happen that quick. Our performances have been decent in the last couple of games. We can build on that, take confidence and try to get points. Where we end up is where we end up, we just need to concentrate on the performances and try to get wins.”

Naismith is in charge at Tynecastle until the end of the season, after which there is expected to be a review of his position and whether he will continue as manager permanently. He wants Hearts to be more aggressive going forward and, so far, has got that message across to players.

“It’s been good. Obviously he’s been about the place, we know him, he worked with the B team,” said Shankland. “He has just come in and tried to get his ideas across and make it as clear as he can. We are going into games confident. We understand what we want to do with the gameplan, so it’s good.”