Dominic Ball received a red card against Celtic this afternoon.
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has told BBC Sport that Dominic Ball’s second yellow card during this afternoon’s Scottish Cup defeat by Celtic was ‘harsh’.
Celtic moved into the final competition after thumping the 10-man Dons, who had Ball sent off in the first half.
Ryan Christie needed to be stretchered off after the clash of heads, but the Aberdeen loanee has since been accused of reckless play.
BBC journalist Tom English tweeted that it was ‘utterly stupid’ from Ball, who ‘deserved’ his punishment.
But McInnes has told BBC Sport that in his eyes it was a very ‘harsh’ decision.
He said: “I think it was harsh on Dom Ball. The first yellow card, Jonny Hayes has kicked the ball out of the park.
“The second one is a clash of heads and I think it is harsh. I do feel we were harshly treated.”
In all likelyhood Ball did not intend to harm the Celtic midfielder, but the reality is that Christie was seriously injured and any incident which endangers a player’s welfare has to be punished.
The ball had already moved away when McInnes’s player jumped and although there was probably no malice, it was still late and a lot of Hoops fans might be surprised to see the Scottish manager defend Ball.
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