Hearts take action over Alan Forrest's yellow card for diving against Ross County

Tynecastle officials reviewed footage of the incident during Saturday's 2-2 draw

Hearts officials will lodge an appeal against Alan Forrest's yellow card for simulation following Saturday's match with Ross County. Tynecastle management have reviewed footage of the incident from multiple angles and are convinced the winger was wrongly cautioned by referee Alan Muir.

The Edinburgh News has learned that the club will submit relevant documents and video evidence to the Scottish Football Association in an effort to get the booking rescinded. SFA disciplinary rules state that yellow cards for simulation can be appealed and Hearts will put together a strong case in support of Forrest.

The incident arose early in the second half of the 2-2 draw when he sprinted on to Lawrence Shankland's pass with the scoreline still blank. Ross County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw emerged with a sliding challenge and Forrest touched the ball past him before falling to the turf inside the penalty area.

Referee Muir did not point to the spot and instead arrived to book the Hearts player for diving. However, video replays showed contact between Laidlaw's right leg and Forrest's left ankle. The VAR system during the cinch Premiership match was operated by David Munro, who deemed Muir correct in his decision to caution Forrest. Hearts head coach Steven Naismith strongly disagreed during his post-match analysis.

"There is contact on Al Forrest," he complained. "Now, I get the referee not seeing it with the speed of play, but VAR has got to see it. I have come in and looked at it and there is contact. If you pause it, there is contact, but it’s not given. It’s not good enough.

"There is contact, which means it’s a penalty. We might get an apology, Al might get his yellow card rescinded but I’m not sure he’s going to get enough [bookings] to get a suspension. It’s just really frustrating."

County moved 2-0 ahead later in the second half through an Alex Cochrane own goal and a Yan Dhanda free-kick. Hearts recovered to salvage a point with goals from Kenneth Vargas and Shankland.