Canning plays down Hartley flashpoint
Hamilton manager Martin Canning played down a post-match incident which saw Motherwell defender Peter Hartley sent off after Accies' 3-1 victory at Fir Park.
Hartley was shown a straight red card after barging into Dougie Imrie as the Hamilton player and Motherwell goalkeeper Trevor Carson squared up.
Imrie had been having an exchange with the home support as he walked towards his own fans to celebrate, moments after being spoken to by referee Andrew Dallas after smashing a clearance into the Motherwell fans having been the target of abuse throughout the game.
It was the third time in three Hamilton games that incidents had occurred at the end of the contest following flashpoints against Ross County and Partick Thistle, the first sparking Scottish Football Association disciplinary charges and the latter prompting the end of Georgios Sarris' Accies career.
Canning said: 'Motherwell were a bit disappointed they lost the game. A few things were said but I don't think it came to anything.
'Everybody ran towards it as quick as they could and then ran away from it as quick as they could. It was nothing, it's a passionate game with it being a derby game.'
Motherwell took a third-minute lead but Imrie levelled from the spot four minutes before the break and Rakish Bingham and Greg Docherty netted second-half goals.
'It's a fantastic result and a fantastic performance from the boys,' Canning said. 'It probably wasn't a classic to watch but the most important thing in a derby is that you have a desire to win the game and we had a big desire.'
Hartley had a day to forget all round - he conceded the spot-kick when Ali Crawford's strike hit him at the top of his arm before his sliced clearance allowed Bingham a run on goal for the second.
Home boss Stephen Robinson had not seen the post-match incident before speaking to the media and was unaware of the red card, which rules the on-loan defender out of the William Hill Scottish Cup meeting between the teams on January 20.
But he was forgiving over Hartley's 90-minute display.
'It's extremely uncharacteristic of Peter, and that we can forgive,' said Robinson, whose team have not won in nine matches.
'There's certain things that happen over and over again with certain players that I can't forgive, and if I keep saying the same things to people and they keep doing it, then it's time to look at something else.
'With Peter it is a one-off, he is a leader. Sometimes when you are that aggressive to go and win balls, you make mistakes. We'll forgive that.
'We'll regroup, we'll get people back fit and we'll be ready to go on the 20th.'