Hibs accept ban for McNulty over 'stamping' charge

Hibs have accepted a Scottish FA charge of violent conduct for Marc McNulty and the forward has been banned for two games.

McNulty was cited by the governing body’s compliance officer after he appeared to stamp on Hearts’ Sean Clare during Tuesday’s Edinburgh derby, which Hearts won 3-1.

A hearing had been scheduled for March 9 but Hibernian have informed the SFA that they will not contest it and accept the two-game ban for the offence. It takes immediate effect and McNulty will miss games against Aberdeen and St Johnstone.

Speaking earlier in the day, Hibs manager Jack Ross had implied that he agreed with the charge, though he said McNulty was not a dirty player.

“I wasn’t even aware of the incident when I came to do my initial post-match interviews,” he said.

“But I’ve watched it now and I’m not surprised by what we’ve received today.

“I don’t want to prejudice anything we do moving forward but when I say I’m not surprised that we’ve received a notice of complaint, I think that gives you my best indication of (my views on the incident) because the footage speaks for itself in that respect.

“You can’t get inside people’s heads but football is a very emotive game and things happen in split seconds. But in terms of what the footage shows, it’s not great.

“Marc isn’t the type of guy who gets involved in incidents like that, not in my experience of him. Anyone who knows him would say he’s a very even-tempered, relaxed, easy-going guy.

“If (a ban) is the outcome then it is a blow for us as we don’t have a plethora of striking options.”