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Dunfermline Athletic hold talks with SFA to raise refereeing concerns

The Pars aired grievances on a call on Tuesday.

New Dunfermline Athletic boss Neil Lennon throws his arms out and shouts.
New Dunfermline boss Neil Lennon. Image: Euan Cherry / SNS Group.

Dunfermline Athletic have held talks with the Scottish FA after boss Neil Lennon raised concerns over refereeing standards at the weekend.

Lennon hit out at officials’ recent performances in the wake of his side’s 1-0 defeat to Hamilton Accies on Saturday.

The former Celtic and Hibernian manager was shown a yellow card during the tense relegation clash for a second booking in his three games in charge at East End Park.

Neil Lennon kicks out at a bottle in the Dunfermline Athletic technical area.
Neil Lennon shows his frustrations during Dunfermline’s defeat to Hamilton Accies. Image: Ross Parker / SNS Group.

And, after seeing whistler Euan Anderson chalk off a Lewis McCann strike early in the second-half, he claimed the levels of refereeing in the Championship had been “abysmal” since his return to the dugout.

After pledging to raise his grievances with Willie Collum, the SFA’s head of referee operations, the governing body subsequently agreed to discussions with the Pars.

Lennon and members of his football staff held a call with representatives of the referees department on Tuesday, during which footage from Saturday’s match was reviewed.

The Fifers sought feedback on the moments highlighted and opinions from both sides were aired.

Dunfermline assess squad for Hampden

Defeat plunged Dunfermline down into ninth place in the Championship and back into a relegation play-off place.

They now hold just a three-point lead over bottom side Airdrie and are two points adrift of Accies in eighth.

However, they also know that a victory over Queen’s Park at Hampden on Saturday would take them over their hosts on goal difference with then three games remaining to secure survival in the run-in.

Lennon is waiting to see how his squad will shape up for the trip to the national stadium after eight players sat out the encounter with Hamilton.

Neil Lennon shakes hands with Pars striker Chris Kane.
Dunfermline are waiting on the fitness of Chris Kane (right). Image: Mark Scates / SNS Group.

Full-back Kieran Ngwenya, midfielders Joe Chalmers, Tashan Oakley-Boothe and David Wotherspoon, and forwards Chris Kane, Michael O’Halloran, Kane Ritchie-Hosler and Connor Young were all missing because of varying injuries.

Newest signing Victor Wanyama was on the bench against Accies and Lennon has reported the former Celtic midfielder is “nearly there now” in his search for fitness and will “start to figure in our thinking going forward”\.

There are hopes that Kane will also shake off his latest calf niggle in time to be involved at Hampden.

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