Kilmarnock midfielder Craig Slater insists he has learned his lesson after "stupidly" getting himself sent off at St Mirren Park.
The 20-year-old was already on a booking when he stepped up to take a late penalty in Paisley. Slater, who tore up his St Mirren contract after former manager Danny Lennon failed to spot his potential, stroked his spot-kick home before leaping the advertising hoardings to celebrate in front of the travelling Killie support. He admits he forgot he was not allowed not leave the field of play until referee Willie Collum flashed a second yellow.
Kilmarnock clung on for a 2-1 win despite Saints netting a late consolation effort but Slater says in future, he will make sure to keep his celebrations in check. He said: "I won't be making that mistake again, that's for sure. It was a rush of the blood and obviously stupid.
"Scoring against my old team added a bit more passion to the occasion. However, I just got carried away. But I just completely forgot about the booking and after scoring I jumped over the advertising board. When I came back onto the park that's when I saw Willie Collum with the card and that's when it sank in what I had done.
"I also wasn't too sure about the rules. Although I jumped over one advertising board, I didn't actually go into the fans. But obviously now that is deemed unacceptable.
"You can bet I will remember not to do it again next time. After the game the manager was just saying how stupid I was, while a few of the other boys were winding me up and saying it was the daftest thing they had seen."
Slater's dismissal means he will now sit out Monday's clash with Celtic. However, having already missed almost six weeks of action after he was dropped by boss Allan Johnston, he knows his mistake may cost him his place for longer.
"It's a big blow to miss out against Celtic on Monday," said Slater. "Those are the games you want to play in. I would loved to have been out there helping the team because it will be a hard game.
"Whoever takes my place I wish them all the best because the team will need to play as well as they can. If I end up missing out because somebody else does well then I will just have to deal with it. I was out of the team for a while earlier in the season but fought my way back in. If I have to do that again, I will."
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