Sunderland loanee criticised for 'unacceptable' red card by new manager

Sunderland loanee Nectar Triantis was sent off for new club Hibernian on Saturday, with manager David Gray labelling his dismissal “unacceptable”.

The Australian joined the Edinburgh outfit for a second time in late August, and has largely impressed during his time north of the border. Since returning to East Road, the 21-year-old has predominantly operated as a defensive midfielder, and has started four consecutive matches in the Scottish Premiership.

He was unable to complete a full 90 minutes this weekend, however, seeing red with a little under a quarter of an hour left to play during a clash with Motherwell. Triantis was deemed to have committed two bookable offences - one for diving in the first half, and a second for a needless foul on Tony Watt. Three minutes after he was sent off, Andy Halliday would score a decisive goal to seal a 2-1 win for Hibs’ opponents.

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And speaking after the final whistle, manager Gray was quick to express his disappointment in Triantis. He said: “When you’re on a yellow card, you can’t go off the ground again and give the referee a decision to make. Regardless of what you get the first yellow for, when you’re on a yellow card you can’t do what he did in the second half. He [Watt] wasn’t going anywhere.

“From that moment, it’s definitely cost us. Once you’ve got back to 1-1, you’re at home and the momentum starts to build again, you think, ‘right, can we go on and win the game?’. That definitely stops you. You go down to 10 and you lose the goal three minutes after that, then you’ve got a mountain to climb.”

He added: “I think he [Triantis] knows he’s made the mistake, but it doesn’t change anything. I understand that if you’re the last man and you’re trying your best to stop a clear, obvious goal-scoring opportunity, but in that situation it’s just a lack of discipline and out of character for him, to be honest. But at the same time, he needs to learn from it, we certainly can’t accept that.”