Fuller is not a diver, says Maybury

ALAN MAYBURY today leapt to the defence of Hearts team-mate Ricardo Fuller, insisting: "He’s no diver."

Referee Kenny Clark sparked a storm of protest from the Gorgie outfit after booking the Jamaican following a second-half challenge from Dunfermline defender Scott Thomson at East End Park on Saturday, the official believing he had gone to ground too easily in an attempt to win a penalty.

It was the second time in recent weeks that the Tynecastle star had seen yellow for a "dive", after also falling foul of referee Dougie MacDonald at Livingston.

Following the Almondvale clash, Levein was quick to express his concern that Fuller was not getting a fair crack of the whip from referees and he felt compelled to reiterate his stance in the aftermath of the incident at East End Park.

This latest caution took Fuller through the disciplinary points threshold and triggered a one-match ban which will see him sit out the trip to Kilmarnock a week on Saturday.

Levein believes his star striker is not enjoying enough protection from the men in black and full-back Maybury insists it is just the 22-year-old’s unpredictable style which has seen him hit the deck perhaps more often than the more conventional strikers in Scotland.

The former Leeds United man has had a close-up view of the front man’s abilities after trying to mark him in training and he said: "Ricardo is not a diver. The problem which defenders have with him is that he moves so quickly as he tries to turn them that the slightest touch can bring him down.

"I know from facing up to him in training and I end up moaning that I didn’t touch him when he goes down.

He added: "I suppose it depends on how close the referee is to these incidents and what view he has, but Ricardo is certainly not a player who dives." The furore surrounding Fuller took the shine off a battling display from the Jambos, who snatched a point from the Fife encounter courtesy of Stephane Adam’s 94th-minute equaliser.

The Frenchman, who had earlier replaced Gary Wales, netted from close range to stun the home side and Maybury admitted he thought Hearts were slipping to their fourth straight defeat before the dramatic finale.

Maybury said: "It was only after we came off the park that we realised just how deep into stoppage time the goal came.

"In that respect it felt like a victory, as I thought the match had gone from us.

"We showed a lot of character to dig in and I thought we deserved to take something from the game. It was important to halt our losing run and we can now go into the weekend clash with Rangers on a high."

Andy Kirk blasted his way into contention for that match with an impressive hat-trick for the under-21s in last night’s clash with St Johnstone.

The Northern Ireland forward has been unable to dislodge Gary Wales from the starting line-up but sent a message to boss Craig Levein that he is ready as the Jambos defeated won 4-2 at Forthbank in Stirling.

Graham Weir was also on the scoresheet as Hearts fought back from going behind to an early penalty from Graeme Jones.

Hearts: McKenzie, Neilson, McCann, Kaczan, A. Smith, Davidson (Janczyk), Boyack, B. Smith, Kirk (Winning), Weir, Sloan.

Taken from the Scotsman