HUGHES FACING SFA RAP AFTER REF BLAST

Falkirk manager John Hughes launched a scathing attack on referee Stuart Dougal after the 5-0 defeat by Hearts, claiming he has no respect for the Bairns.

Hughes questioned the dismissal of Stephen O'Donnell who was booked twice in the first half for late tackles on Steven Pressley and Calum Elliot, and claimed he had two of his own observers in the stand monitoring the referee's performance.

Hughes' outburst is sure to land him in trouble with the Scottish Football Association after being so critical of Dougal's performance.

Hughes said: "The first one was a booking but I don't think the second one was. A good referee would have calmed things down and taken the sting out of the game.

"Football is all about getting stuck in and being competitive. If Johnny Giles, Dave Mackay and Billy Bremner were out there today there would have been no-one left on the park the way Stuart went about his business.

"I had two guys in the stand analysing Stuart Dougal's performance, I asked them to watch his performance before the game. I don't think he has any respect for Falkirk football club."

Hughes, however, concedes his side were always going to be in for a difficult game even if they had all 11 men for the 90 minutes.

He added: "It's always a tough place to come and it was going to be tough with 11 men.

"At 1-0 down I thought we were still in the game but it's easy for me to say that. I was disappointed in the way we conceded the goals, we were sloppy and poor."

Hearts head coach Graham Rix, who confirmed Benfica midfielder Bruno Aguiar is a January signing target, was delighted with the performance after their recent lacklustre displays.

He said: "The players were excellent and it was good tempo. A lot was said about what we are good at and what we need to do to get back that confidence and self-belief.

"Calum had a chance after about 70 seconds and I think that set us up for the rest of the game.

"It was important we had a win, to get a win and a performance like that was good."

Taken from sportinglife.com