St Johnstone have decided not to lodge an appeal against Dan Phillips’ controversial weekend sending off.
The Perth midfielder saw his yellow for a challenge on St Mirren’s Ryan Flynn upgraded to red by referee Craig Napier after VAR intervention.
Saints were successful in getting a Nicky Clark dismissal overturned earlier this month but won’t be trying to make it an SFA hearing double.
That will mean Phillips now misses their trip to Tynecastle on Saturday.
Manager Callum Davidson said: “We won’t be appealing Dan’s red card.
“We have looked at it back several times and I still don’t think he was involved in a tackle or a challenge because he had the ball in his possession.
“He was trying to control it when Ryan Flynn came in from the side and at the time I didn’t think it was even a foul.
“The still photograph made it look far worse than it was in real time.
“But by the rules the referees have to follow these days, it would come under the bracket of endangering an opponent if we did challenge it.
“I still don’t think it was a red card so it’s harsh on Dan that he’s going to miss this weekend’s game.
“Again, for me, it’s another grey area we need to clarify with VAR because it was a football incident with no intent to hurt anyone.
“There needs to be more differentiation between a football incident and dangerous play because at the moment the lines seem to be blurred.”
Meanwhile, Saints are still waiting on test results with a view to accelerating Ryan McGowan’s return from a groin injury.
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