Hamilton boss Martin Canning reveals John Fleming contact after Rangers defeat
Martin Canning spoke to the Scottish Football Association's head of refereeing operations John Fleming following Hamilton's 6-0 defeat at Rangers on Saturday.
The Accies boss was unconvinced by the penalty award given against midfielder Grant Gillespie for a challenge on Jon Toral, which allowed Martyn Waghorn to give the home side lead from the spot in Saturday's William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at Ibrox.
Canning was also frustrated with the failure of the officials to spot that Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham handled outside the box to thwart an Accies attack in the first half and that Joe Garner was shown only a yellow card by referee John Beaton for a swipe at Dougie Imrie.
That frustration was compounded when the Gers striker scored a hat-trick and also accidentally clashed heads with Blair Adams which left the Accies player with concussion and out for three weeks.
Canning said: I didn't make a big deal of it after the game because we have to look at ourselves first and for whatever reason in the last 10 minutes we just fell apart.
"But I spoke to John Fleming about it. That will remain between me and him but we have discussed it.
"I have spoken to him once or twice this season and he is always approachable and happy to discuss it and he is a pretty fair guy in that he will call it as he thinks it is.
"It is a difficult one because there is not a lot he can say other than the decisions haven't gone our way.
"I am never critical of referees because it is a hard job to see it in real time and get it right but that's ultimately what they get paid for and why they are the elite.
"They should be getting big decisions right and to get three wrong in the one game, it really affects the game.
"The decisions within the game dictated the game and I don't think that would have been the case had the decisions gone the way they should have gone.
"It was a penalty that wasn't a penalty that put us 1-0 down. The explanation I got after the game was that John Beaton saw that he had been pulled down which wasn't the case.
"There was a slight amount of contact. I think he stands on his toe but I don't think it is enough and he goes down two seconds after when he realises he can't get his shot away.
"Their goalkeeper should have been sent off which changes the game. It was pretty obvious he was outside the box and it was a sending off.
"And Garner scores a hat-trick and puts one of our players out for three weeks with a bad cut and concussion when he should have been off the park.
"I don't know if it is true but if luck is a thing that evens itself out then we are due a bit of it because quite a few of them (decisions) have gone against us this season."