Hearts captain Michael Stewart claims the club is being unfairly treated by referees compared to other clubs in the SPL. The Jambos skipper was sent off during Monday's SPL opener against Dundee United after picking up what he deemed to be two harsh yellow cards from match official Steve Conroy.

"These things happen in football," he said of his red card. "There was no malice and I think there were far worse tackles on the pitch that went unpunished."

He added: "All I was trying to do was get the team going, I thought we were a wee bit flat. Unfortunately the referee saw fit to give me two yellow cards.

"The referee is entitled to his opinion and ultimately that's the one that counts on the pitch.

"Although, I think there were incidents where, had it been a Hearts player that had been involved in them, there would have been a different action taken against them."