HEARTS full-back Stephen Kingsley has defended his decision to square up to Juninho Bacuna after the Rangers midfielder grabbed him by the throat at Ibrox on Saturday – but revealed that he had forgotten about the altercation by the final whistle and had shaken hands with his opponent.
Kingsley and Bacuna became embroiled in a stand-off just in front of the dugouts in the second-half of the fiercely-contested cinch Premiership match after the ball had gone out play.
The former Swansea City and Hull City defender confessed that he had reacted badly during the flashpoint - but argued that it was an understandable response to being seized by the ex-Huddersfield Town man.
“It was just in the heat of the moment,” he said. “The ball was going out of play and he knew it was going out of play and he has taken the touch away. So I was trying to get the ball back.
“It was just emotion, one of those things. I was surprised when it happened at first, but I just got on with it. You get on with it and I was just so happy that soon after that we managed to get an equaliser.”
Robbie Neilson, the visitors’ manager who was sent off for sarcastically applauding the referee’s decision to book the full-back following the incident, was adamant the Curacaoan internationalist should have been red carded.
Asked if he agreed with Neilson and believed that Bacuna should have been sent off, Kingsley said: “I leave that up to the ref. I wasn’t happy when he did it and I raised my hand after it in a bit of a reaction.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have done that either, but I think you are entitled to when someone grabs your throat. No, it’s just one of those things. You just deal with it, get on with it and shake hands after the game.”
Match official Don Robertson booked Rangers playmaker Joe Aribo for a foul on Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin in the first-half of a match that ended 1-1 after Craig Halkett scored in the last minute.
Many fans in the 49,960-strong crowd believed the Nigerian internationalist was lucky not to receive a red card and Kingsley stated it that it must have been a rash challenge to halt the Australian.
“I saw him on the ground, I heard the noise of the tackle, but I didn’t actually see it,” he said. “The ball was coming across the pitch. When I turned back round I saw him lying on the ground.
“Cammy is a right strong lad. Even though he is small he is as tough as they come. So it must have been bad to keep him down on the ground.
“But it’s part of the game. It was a really tough match. Tackles were going in. We wanted to make sure we were up for the challenge and not just lying down. We wanted to enforce our game on them. These things happen.”
Kingsley, who helped Hearts to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premiership and stay just a point behind Rangers, felt that remaining focused throughout the 90 minutes had enabled the capital club to snatch a goal and a point at the death.
“If there are decisions that go against us there is no point in thinking about that or complaining because when the ref makes his decision he makes his decision,” he said.
“There is nothing you can do about it. If there are contentious decisions or not, you have just got to get on with it. The worse thing you can do is have a go at the ref.
“You need to just focus on your game, especially at Ibrox when you have got a team like Rangers coming at you. You have just got to stay strong mentally and not worry about anything.”
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