United defender Duff says Skacel spat on him

HEARTS midfielder Rudi Skacel has been accused of spitting in the face of Dundee United right-back Stuart Duff during the bad-tempered finale to Tuesday night's 1-1 draw at Tannadice.

Duff said the referee missed the alleged incident which he claims took place in the aftermath of the dismissal of his United team-mate Barry Robson. Hearts say they are unaware of any foul play and have received no complaint from the Tannadice club.

Duff, however, intends to pursue the matter. He said: "I will be looking through video evidence. This happened when Barry Robson was being sent off. There was a skirmish and I thought it was our free kick. I went to get the ball back and when I tried to get the ball from Skacel he turned round and spat in my face. Paul Hartley saw it and I mentioned it to the referee [but] he was occupied with what happened with the sending off of Barry.

"I'll have a word with the manager and see how he feels about it. I'm not loud on the pitch and don't try and bring this kind of thing upon myself."

A Hearts spokesman was sceptical about the claims. He said: "Hearts have had no direct approach either from Dundee United or the referee with regard to this alleged incident. We would be very surprised if indeed the alleged incident took place as the player concerned is extremely conscientious both on and off the pitch."

Tuesday's match descended into a bad tempered encounter with two players sent off in the dying minutes. The home side had led 1-0 with just seven minutes to go when Steven Pressley went down in the box after what looked an innocuous challenge by Alan Archibald. Paul Hartley equalised with the resultant penalty and minutes later Robson was sent off for a foul on Pressley. Hearts' Julien Brellier followed Robson down the tunnel after he was red carded for a push on Derek McInnes.

Grant Brebner, who scored United's goal with a well taken header, said he and his team-mates had been disappointed by the way the game ended. "The referee has given the penalty and we have to accept that," he said. "However, the thing we are more than unhappy about in the dressing room is the manner in which some of their players - one in particular - behaved. If you are going to bring players in you should teach them manners first and spitting in a player's face is not what you expect over here. You can accept penalties and tackles, and you can accept sendings off, but not that. It's not acceptable. Hearts can deal with it. They know who it was."

The incident was closely followed by Hartley's antagonistic celebrating of the equaliser, with the midfielder gesticulating at McInnes, the United captain, as he raced back to the centre circle. Tempers again flared during the melee which followed Robson's tackle on Pressley, with the Hearts players by now in danger of over-dosing on the emotional fall-out from a turbulent day. Earlier the Hearts squad had been asked to digest the news that head coach Graham Rix was no longer in charge of selecting the team.

McInnes said: "Stuart Duff told everyone after the game that Rudi Skacel spat on the side of his face during the match and if it did happen then it is an absolute disgrace. There is no place for that sort of thing in the game and it is very unfortunate that the referee missed it.

Brellier, meanwhile, has been hit with a three-game ban following his dismissal.

The red card took him through the disciplinary points threshold, meaning he picks up a two-game suspension on top of the automatic one-game ban.

Brellier will miss Hearts' SPL clash with Aberdeen at Tynecastle on Saturday and league matches in March at Livingston and Inverness.

Taken from the Scotsman