Calum Butcher has slammed Hearts striker Ellis Simms' after his challenge that left Ryan Edwards with a bloody broken nose.
The Dundee United captain was forced off after being struck with a flailing arm during Saturday's 2-2 Premiership draw at Tannadice.
Simms, currently on-loan at Tynecastle from Everton, was shown a yellow card by referee Willie Collum.
But Butcher reckons the punishment could have been more severe given the state it left his teammate in.
“I’m disappointed in the challenge if I’m honest,” he said.
“It’s pretty poor. I thought the referee would have seen it and dealt with it a little bit differently.
“But it is what it is. His nose doesn’t look great.
“When you see a team-mate with that much blood on his face then you realise there is a situation that should have been dealt with a little bit better.
“But the game went on and we showed really good character to get back into it.
“ Ryan doesn’t shy away from anything. He’s a tough character. He’ll bounce back from this and will be back involved very soon.”
Hearts were forced into five subs of their own due to injury.
Gary Mackay-Steven was forced off with a broken hand before replacement Alex Cochrane couldn’t continue following a head knock.
Cammy Devlin was withdrawn with a hamstring issue while Nathaniel Atkinson didn’t reappear after the break due to a knock.
John Souttar also limped off after the break while Josh Ginnelly required treatment after full-time.
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