Livingston midfielder Andrew Shinnie says Esmael Goncalves’ apology following his dismissal against Cove Rangers ‘isn’t really good enough’ and has warned the former Hearts man that he needs to learn from his mistake.
Goncalves was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident midway through the first half in Aberdeen when he kicked out at Scott Ross.
That almost cost the Lions a chance of qualifying from the group stage as the hosts then took advantage of their numerical supremacy by netting the opener just before the break through Iain Vigurs.
But the 10-men would turn things around in the second half with Ayo Obileye scoring from close range three minutes after the interval before captain Nicky Devlin won all three points with a fine 88th minute strike.
Speaking to the the media afterwards, Shinnie said: “Esmael apologised but it’s not really good enough and I had a word with him at half-time.
“In Scotland you have to deal with the physical side. That’s the nature of football here, they’ll look for retaliation to get an advantage. He’s been sucked in, lashed out and got a red card. He’ll know, in no uncertain terms, that you can’t do stuff like that.”
Those sentiments were echoed by manager David Martindale, who commented: “Isma knows he’s let us down but the boys dug him out of a hole.
“I don’t agree with kicking someone off the ball and I’m not having it. I will deal with him personally and the club will deal with him but I thought the boys were immense.
“That’s what this team is because it’s all about the we and not about the me.”
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