MILLER JUSTIFIES PENALTY CLAIM

Hearts striker Lee Miller insists the penalty he earned at Dunfermline was of a wholly different nature to the one he conceded against Rangers during the week.

The incidents looked similar, but Miller claims there was considerably more contact at East End Park on Saturday than there was at Tynecastle on Wednesday.

Miller was adjudged to have impeded Rangers' Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos in the dying minutes of the match in Edinburgh, a decision which allowed Fernando Ricksen to slot home the winner for the Ibrox side.

Then three days later he came full circle when referee Charlie Richmond decided the former Falkirk man had been fouled by Pars centre-back Scott Wilson, who had earlier put his side ahead.

Stand-in captain Paul Hartley calmly converted the resulting penalty in the 62nd minute to hand the Jambos a 1-1 draw in Fife.

Miller said: "I don't think there was much contact at all (with Kyrgiakos). I wasn't happy about it but that's the way it goes sometimes.

"But against Dunfermline I felt the guy (Wilson) was climbing all over my back and I was just decked.

"If he hadn't done that I was basically getting a free header and the ref saw it as a penalty."

Miller, who has impressed since joining on loan from Bristol City, refuted Dunfermline boss Davie Hay's suggestion that Hearts' reaction to the penalty award at Tynecastle could have led to Richmond giving them the decision at East End Park.

The Gorgie Road club have requested an enquiry into the match - although they stressed they have not asked for a replay.

Miller, who revealed he knew nothing about the club's appeal, said: "You can't say that.

"That's just his opinion and everybody's entitled to their opinion but I don't think that it's right.

"I can see where he's coming from but at the end of the day, just like the other night, it is the referee's decision."

Miller, who was named Young Player of the Month for February, admitted he was relieved to have got a point from their trip over the Forth.

He said: "We didn't look like we would score in the first half, it was difficult to see where a goal was going to come from.

"But we played a lot better in the second half and it was a decent point in the end."

Meanwhile Dunfermline striker Simon Donnelly is adamant he does not have a problem with playing half of his matches on an artificial pitch.

The much-maligned plastic surface at East End Park is poised to be replaced by a new version in time for the Pars' game with Hibernian in a fortnight's time.

Donnelly said: "I've not minded that pitch. This time of year if you look at the pitches round the country they can often be muddy and the ball doesn't roll properly.

"We're being told the new one is an improvement so we'll look forward to playing on it."

Dunfermline's home form on their unique pitch is pulling them away from the relegation zone, and Donnelly believes they can succeed in making the closing weeks of the season enjoyable.

He said: "We're trying to get as many points as we can at the moment to give us a bit of a cushion between us and the bottom.

"We've got Livingston and Dundee coming up soon so obviously they'll be important games but we take a lot from our first-half showing against Hearts.

"We could've been further ahead really and if we'd taken another one of our chances we could have got the three points.

"Even at the end we had the ball in the net but it was ruled offside, when I actually think it was Barry Nicholson, not Andy Tod (who 'scored') who was offside."

Taken from sportinglife.com