Kilmarnock forward Kallum Higginbotham has blasted James Tavernier and called him “attention seeking” after the Rangers defender posted a picture of his injured knee on Twitter.
Higginbotham received a straight red card during the closing stages of his side’s goalless draw with Rangers in a Scottish Cup game at the weekend for a high challenge Tavernier.
The Rangers full-back then took to Twitter to show a picture of his bruised knee with the caption “red card or not.”
And Higginbotham, who felt it was a harsh sending off, insisted that he had no intention of hurting Tavernier.
The 26-year-old went on to add that the referee could have made a different decision if the game had taken place at any other ground than Ibrox.
relatedNewsStory
“I don’t have Twitter myself but a few of the lads showed me that when I came in on Monday”, Higginbotham was quoted as saying by the Scotland Herald.
“It’s disappointing because in my eyes it’s attention-seeking and he’s trying to prove that I’ve touched him.
“Maybe if he hadn’t posted that picture we could have tried to have appealed it, but the picture shows that there was contact so it would affect the perception of the challenge.
“I never tried to hurt the guy, I wouldn’t do that, it’s just the way I play the game. I want to win every ball that I go for, and if you can’t go in with a little bit of force then it’s not football anymore.
“It seems to always be stop-start in games now for the littlest thing, I think referees need to understand that it’s men playing football, and there’s obviously going to be contact.
“I think it was a harsh sending off, it split views right through Scotland with some people saying it was a straight red and others saying there’s no way it was red.
“I’m obviously going to say that it’s not a red, but I know that I didn’t have any intent to hurt him.
“The ball was there to be won and I’ve won the ball, but the referee has obviously factored in the speed of the challenge and the fact my studs were showing, so he’s just doing his job, but I’m just disappointed he’s come to that decision.
“Maybe if it was away from Ibrox it might have been different or if it was early on in the game. But it’s happened now and I can’t let it get me down, I just need to move on.”
Tavernier, who joined Rangers from Wigan Athletic in the summer, has thus far amassed 32 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, scoring 11 times and providing 16 assists.
