MacPherson asks for a quiet word, not cards

ST MIRREN manager Gus MacPherson admitted that referee Calum Murray had followed the letter of the law by red carding Tonet Guerao at Hearts, but insisted "a quiet word" could have replaced the midfielder's second booking.

The Buddies were reduced to ten men after only 25 minutes of their 2-1 SPL defeat at Tynecastle and the decision proved pivotal as Hearts racked up all three points thanks to a Jamie Mole strike and Michael Stewart's penalty.

However, MacPherson, who failed in a bid to overturn Will Haining's red card from the opening game of the season against Celtic, believes referees should be more lenient when it comes to handing out cards.

"(The sending off] was massive," said MacPherson. "You lose that player, it's always going to be tough.

"By the letter of the law, the tackles were yellow cards, but if there are going to be challenges like that we are going to book every single player with every challenge.

|I think a quiet word would have sufficed with it being so quickly after the first challenge."

MacPherson, however, was proud of his players after they responded bravely to the red card. He added: "We went down to ten men and worked ever so hard.

"The positives are the way we worked because we could easily have capitulated."