St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson calls for rule change to deal with 'blatant' yellow card errors

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson believes rules have to be changed to allow second yellow cards to be reviewed after the Scottish FA admitted another mistake that proved costly for the Paisley side.

Saints top scorer Toyosi Olusanya is suspended for Saturday’s crucial Premiership clash with Kilmarnock after being sent off for receiving two yellow cards against Motherwell last time out. But the second caution was hugely controversial, with Olusanya surprisingly booked by referee Grant Irvine after a collision with Motherwell’s Dan Casey.

Robinson revealed that Scottish FA referees chief Willie Collum had admitted to the club that Irvine had gotten the decision wrong, but the Saints boss bemoaned the fact that nothing could be done to rectify the error.

VAR can only intervene to ask match referees to review goals, penalties, direct red cards, or mistaken identity, and there is no appeals process for yellow cards except in cases of simulation.

The St Mirren boss said that his team had been affected by the same type of mistake three times now, and that something has to change.

“Toyosi is suspended, which is a real frustration for us,” Robinson said. “That’s the third second yellow card that’s led to a red that we’ve had an apology for, that shouldn’t have been a red.

“Unfortunately, we get punished on the Saturday because we have to play over 20 minutes with ten men, which we did brilliantly and should have won the game.

“Now we get double punishment with the following week. That’s been three times that’s happened now.

“They can’t review yellow cards but when it leads to a red and it’s that blatantly wrong, then it should do.

“We’re getting doubly punished, and it applies to other teams as well, we’re not the only ones.

“We’re top of the league for decisions against again but these second yellow cards are like double punishment. You get your apology but unfortunately it doesn’t change anything.”

Asked if the rulebook had to be tweaked to allow injustices to be corrected, he said there was no doubt there needed to be a change.

“It has to be,” Robinson said. “If the referee makes a mistake on the day, you get punished for that. And it’s a blatant error. Then you get punished twice (with the suspension).

“I happened twice with Scott Tanser where second yellows led to a red and we had to be without him for the following week.

“In a small squad, those decisions are huge in terms of your finishing position in the league.”

As he prepares for a match that is vital to St Mirren’s slim hopes of making the top six for a third year in succession, Robinson revealed that he had further injury issues to deal with on top of Olusanya’s suspension.

Mikael Mandron is back in training but the striker is unlikely to be fit for Saturday, while Caolan Boyd-Munce is available after going through the concussion protocols.

However, Alex Iacovitti is out with a “minor” recurrence of the injury that has seen him miss huge chunks of the campaign so far, while Elvis Bwomono picked up a knock on international duty that will see him sit out the match. Killian Phillips is also a doubt after missing training this week with a back spasm.

Despite the setbacks, Robinson is confident his side can take what would be a huge three points against a side they have struggled with in recent years.

“I always think that, well, other people get opportunities now,” he said.

“Step up and take your opportunity. People have waited a long time, wanted chances, trained well and showed a great attitude.

“So it’s a case you go with what you have. We believe we’re strong enough to win the game.

“We’ve got three games where we can go and get a good amount of points and see what happens.

“Killie are a challenge, similar to ourselves, they got into Europe and struggled early on and it has been catch-up.

“It’s a tough game but one we are looking forward to and are quietly confident.”