David Martindale pleaded his defence for being red carded for a one finger salute towards goalkeeper David Marshall.
The Livingston boss was dismissed at the end of their defeat and he insisted his gesture towards the former Scotland number one was in good humour but referee Chris Graham didn't see the funny side. He said: "I'm not going to tell any lies. The Hibs keeper asked how long was to go and I shouted back ‘there’s a minute left’ with my middle finger. Martindale said: I laughed and I got sent off for making an offensive gesture.
"Marshall grabbed me in the tunnel and asked if I got sent off for that. I said yes, and he said that if I needed him to say anything to please let him know. I just said there was a minute left (and gestured) and then I was sent off. If I was to say f*** you then I think that’s a sending off.
"Maybe I let the boys down a wee bit today with that. I never did it in that context, it wasn’t in anger. Marshall and I were both laughing. The referee said he didn’t want to send me off and I said ‘but you did’. Surely in that context it is not offensive and that must carry a bit of weight.
"I would argue it wasn’t done in an offensive way. It was a bit of banter with Marshall. He laughed, I laughed and that was it. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong, It's frustration, anger and disappointment.
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"At a club of this size you lose games of football but I think our performance level since the Inverness defeat hasn’t been there.
"The boys have lost a wee bit of confidence and belief in themselves and we need to try and get that back."
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