Zaliukas appeal rejected

Hearts’ appeal against the red card shown to Marius Zaliukas against Aberdeen was today rejected by the Scottish Football Association.

The club contested the defender’s sending-off in Saturday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat at Pittodrie.

Hearts submitted a claim for wrongful dismissal, believing Zaliukas to have been incorrectly ordered from the field by referee Iain Brines for headbutting Dons match-winner Lee Miller.

Brines reviewed the incident this afternoon and indicated he was happy with his original decision, meaning Zaliukas’ case was automatically dismissed.

The 25-year-old, who was also sent off against Celtic last month, will therefore miss Saturday’s match against Hibernian, as well as two further SPL games for breaching the 18-point disciplinary threshold.