Robbie Neilson has his say on St Mirren penalty claim, Hearts striker's challenge and referee's red card call

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson defended referee Greg Aitken, claiming the official had “got all the key decisions right” in a contentious match that saw his capital side emerge as 2-0 victors over 10-man St Mirren.

It allowed the Gorgie outfit to extend their advantage in third to 11 points. But the game did not come without its talking points, as Conor Ronan was sent off in the 23rd minute and Saints then had a penalty shout ignored when Alex Grieve went down in the box.

But the biggest gripe seemed to be the challenge made by Hearts striker Ellis Simms in the build up to the second goal.

“The sending off made a difference to the game but even prior to that I thought we were playing pretty well anyway,” said Neilson.

“The ref got the key decisions right. We’ve seen the tackle and it’s a stonewall red card. It’s not malicious but the boy has gone over the top of the ball.

“For the penalty they thought they should have had, the player jumps into the challenge and looked for it.

“I know Stephen will probably see it differently but from our perspective I thought he [Aitken] got the key decisions right.

“For our second goal, Simms has to challenge for it. The keeper dives at his feet and they come together but I don’t see an issue with that.”

Cammy Devlin followed up on that challenge to bury the rebound, doubling Hearts’ tally after Simms had opened the account minutes earlier.

“We’re delighted because it’s always tough coming here.

“The subs made a difference to us. We went with quality over quantity in the summer so we don’t have a big squad but today, we had Craig Gordon, Craig Halkett, Beni Baningime and Liam Boyce back. That’s the spine of our team, really experienced players and our best performers this season.

“That