Jack Ross has hinted Hibernian are ready to accept Marc McNulty’s stamping punishment.
The Easter Road outfit have yet to make a decision on whether to appeal the notice of complaint issued to the striker after he appeared to plant his foot into the back of Hearts midfielder Sean Clare during Tuesday’s derby defeat.
A Hampden hearing has been called for Monday and the on-loan Reading frontman would miss two games if he decides against challenging the Scottish Football Association’s fast-track case.
However, the ban could kick in ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aberdeen if the charge is accepted before the weekend.
And Ross signalled that will be the case as he admitted it was no surprise to see Scotland international McNulty cited.
He said: “I’ve not had a chance to discuss it with the club or Mark yet but we’ll do that over the next couple of hours.
“If we accept the charge I think it’s a two-game ban for him. The Monday date would only go ahead if we decide to contest it.
“As far as I know if we do decide to accept it, the ban begins immediately.
“I wasn’t even aware of the incident when I came to do my initial post-match interviews.
“But I’ve watched it now and I’m not surprised by what we’ve received today.
“I don’t want to prejudice anything we do moving forward but when I say I’m not surprised that we’ve received a notice of complaint, I think that gives you my best indication of (my views on the incident) because the footage speaks for itself in that respect.”
The first-half flashpoint soured even further what went on to become a painful night for Hibs.
Daniel Stendel’s men gave their relegation fight a massive boost with three huge points as they stormed Leith to claim a 3-1 win.
McNulty has been charged over claims he breached disciplinary rule 200, which covers acts of “violent conduct”.
But Ross insists the incident was out of character.
He said: “You can’t get inside people’s heads but football is a very emotive game and things happen in split seconds. But in terms of what the footage shows, it’s not great.
“Marc isn’t the type of guy who gets involved in incidents like that, not in my experience of him. Anyone who knows him would say he’s a very even-tempered, relaxed, easy-going guy.
“If (a ban) is the outcome then it is a blow for us as we don’t have a plethora of striking options.”
