Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes believes his captain Graeme Shinnie is being unfairly treated by referees.
The Dons midfielder will serve his second suspension of the season later this month when he sits out his side’s trip to Hibernian on Saturday, February 17 and the visit of champions Celtic to Pittodrie on Sunday, February 25 following his booking in the 2-0 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox last week.
The Aberdeen skipper collected his 12th booking of the campaign in Wednesday’s 4-2 win at Ross County and McInnes believes the midfielder is being held to a different standard from other players in the league.
He said: “For anyone that was at Dingwall the other night that booking was so harsh as I’ve watched it back and it was his first foul in the game.
“For me it’s not stopping a promising attack as it’s outside Ross County’s penalty area.
“There was a few other fouls that went on that weren’t punished but a foul’s a foul and is not always a yellow card.
“There are others in the league who seem to get a wee bit more leeway in terms of fouls but Shinnie doesn’t.
“He’s not innocent by any stretch of the imagination but I can think of three or four times this season when he’s been booked and it’s been really harsh on him.
“We are not going to change him because he makes more tackles than most players in the SPL.
“He certainly makes more tackles than any other player than we’ve got and that’s his game but not every tackle is a yellow card.”
Shinnie will be available for his side’s game against Hamilton Accies at Pittodrie today as will deadline day arrivals, goalkeeper Freddie Woodman and striker Sam Cosgrove.
The Dons boss admits he has a tough choice to make in whether to retain Danny Rogers or hand under-20 World Cup winner Woodman his debut today.
He said: “I’ve got a decision to make. I feel it was important that we got the best keeper that we felt we could do at this stage of the season.
“We had to react to Joe’s injury which wasn’t something we would of wanted to do. We focused on Freddie and thankfully managed to get him with us.
“Newcastle required him for a couple of games until they got their keeper and got international clearance over the line.
“He’s a player who impressed me and the staff when he was on loan at Kilmarnock.
“He’s one that we’ve actually been monitoring as we would do so we’re delighted to get him.”