IT was interesting to see Inverness Caley Thistle take such a hard line this week with one of their players who allegedly spat at an opponent. You wonder, though, whether it would have been a tougher decision for John Hughes if it had been someone like Ryan Christie or one of their other bigger players who had done it. Dani Lopez has been suspended by the club pending an internal investigation and will be banned for two matches after being sent off in that development match against St Johnstone. It was the right thing for Inverness to do as spitting is still one of the worst things one professional can do to another. I think it’s disgusting and I know a lot of other people in the game agree.

Lopez hasn’t been one of Inverness’ main players so far this season. The striker was signed in the summer and has scored once. He’s played one game since September. That in some ways makes it easier for Caley Thistle to take a strong line. It would only be natural if they maybe would have had second thoughts if it had been one of their key players who they needed to start for them week after week. Would they have acted the same? At Ross County, you wonder if we might have hesitated if it had been someone like Jackson Irvine or Liam Boyce who were out of line, rather than, say, a fringe player or someone in the under-20s. We all like to think we have principles but sometimes you have to weigh up the possible consequences if you end up without an important player for big matches.

Yogi, to his credit, has not tried to cover things up. I read he said it would not have surprised him if the lad who was allegedly spat on had turned round and given Lopez a whack. He’s spoken about Inverness’ values and needing to act quickly so fair play to him for that. And Tommy Wright, in turn, seems happy that Inverness have taken immediate action.

Spitting, thankfully, is still not all that common in the game. It’s a cultural thing that some players have brought over here but mercifully it’s not become widespread. I remember the El Hadji Diouf one when he spat at Celtic fans when he was with Liverpool, and Lorenzo Amoruso spitting at James Grady in a Scottish Cup tie. And more recently there was the case with Paul Paton who got a two-game ban even though Jonny Hayes said he never did it, and Scott Ross from Peterhead who spat at Nicky Law in a Rangers game. But these thankfully seem to be largely isolated incidents.

We have a code of conduct at County where the players know what fines they will face if they step out of line. Spitting isn’t even on there because you just don’t expect players to do that. For me, it’s a big no-no. It’s the kind of thing that you would struggle to defend even if it was one of your own team-mates that did it. And you certainly wouldn’t accept it from an opponent. I know people outside of the game maybe think it’s daft that football people always go on about how being spat on being among the worst things that could happen to you but it’s true. If someone puts in a hard but fair tackle on you and you end up with a broken leg or ligament damage then you can almost accept it as that’s part of the game. But spitting definitely isn’t. Let’s hope it stays that way.

I THOUGHT I was over my disappointment at Scotland not qualifying for Euro 2016 until I watched the Republic of Ireland make it through the play-offs last week. And that brought the frustration back home to roost once again. Fair play to Martin O’Neill and his players but you couldn’t help but think that should have been us playing against Bosnia for the right to be in France next summer. And you would have fancied us to have beaten them the way the Irish did. In a way you were pleased to see Ireland celebrate at the end because they’ve got a lot of players who play in British football and so it will be more familiar faces on our tellies next summer. But the truth is deep down it just made me even more frustrated that we didn’t qualify. And the fact that we are the only one of the five countries from the British Isles just makes it worse. Soon there will be the draw, and then the build-up early next year and then the Finals themselves. And we’ll be stuck at home while the rest are having a party. Just as well I’m not bitter - honest.