WHELEN SAYS DONS WERE CHEATED

The Bank of Scotland Premier League encounter hinged on two incidents, a 66th-minute penalty for the home team after Whelan had clashed with Pressley in the Aberdeen penalty area and a late disallowed goal by Pittodrie substitute Steven Craig, whose close-range strike was ruled offside.

Whelan said: "We never got going in the first half, but in the end we were beaten by a cheat.

"Pressley's performance was disgusting and he went down in the box after little contact.

"Pressley had done it throughout the game both in defence and then in our box. He always gets decisions and fools the referee, and he got another one against us.

"The referee had been terrible all day. It's hard enough to play against 11, but it's impossible to play against 12 when the referee is on their side."

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood described Craig's disallowed goal as "unbelievable".

He said: "We thought we got the goal and probably the only man in the stadium who didn't think it was a goal had his flag up.

"I doubt very much if he would have done that at the other end. It was unbelievable.

"I think everybody, the Hearts supporters and John Robertson thought it was a goal and the man has got his flag up.

"I thought when the ball came back off the post you're on side, but maybe they have brought new rules out.

"We want linesmen to get involved, but they've got to be involved for two teams."

Hearts head coach John Robertson insisted referee McCurry was right to act on his linesman's advice when he disallowed the visitors' late goal.

He said: "We asked the referee's assistant about it and he said that two Aberdeen players were offside when Hart chipped it in.

"And, when the ball came off the post, that's when he put his flag up because they had gained an unfair advantage. So it was a good call."

Robertson, however, was more confrontational when asked about Celtic target Paul Hartley, who missed the game with a hamstring injury.

The Parkhead club have made an official bid of #200,000 for the midfielder, but the Jambos boss called it an "insult" and said: "Everyone at the club can understand Paul's dilemma, but nobody here would stand in his way.

"But to think that Celtic only rate him at #200,000 is an insult to Paul, although he might not think that.

"If Chelsea came to Celtic and said we'll give you #2million for Chris Sutton and he said he wanted to go, would Martin O'Neill and the Celtic fans accept that? It's the same scenario for us.

"If the price is right and the board accept it, then Paul will be a Celtic player and he will go with our best wishes.

"But we need Paul because he is a big player for us and the thing is, how would we replace him at this stage of the transfer window whether we got the right money or not? It's virtually impossible."

Taken from The Press and Journal