Kilmarnock boss bemoans red card and penalty call in Livingston clash
Stuart Kettlewell confessed the game turned on a single moment as Killie let a two goal lead slip against Livingston on the opening day of the Premiership season.
And while the new gaffer admitted he felt aggrieved, he insists the points would have been in the bag if his backline had simply dealt with the danger.
A long ball over the top saw defender George Stanger and keeper Max Stryjek hesitate, with the end result being the centre-back being dismissed and a penalty awarded after he was ruled to have dragged down Robbie Muirhead inside the box.
The original decision had been to allow play to continue before a VAR check saw the double whammy punishment for the hosts.
Kettlewell reckons the hosts should have been awarded a free-kick but says they've only got themselves to blame.
He said: 'It is the classic case of that one moment changes a game of football. We can play better than we did in the first half, but we started turning the ball over, that's where we got two goals from.
'We had a couple of other opportunities to capitalise a little bit more but you're happy in this league going 2-0 at half-time.
'We were comfortable and then they throw a basic ball down the side of the centre-backs, our centre-back being in the dominant position.
'We expect them to deal with it. I'm not throwing anybody under the bus, it's just the basics of the game. Then that one moment, the red card, the penalty, the double punishment, makes it a difficult task.
'We shoot ourselves in the foot by the outcome. We can debate the red card and the penalty, but I think that we need to put ourselves in a position where we're not talking about that.'
He added: 'I do have complaints about the red card. I actually felt that Muirhead has the initial pull on George. If we deem both pulls the same, then is the foul earlier in the incident?
'I do want the centre-back to deal with the ball. I don't think it's going at enough pace to guarantee that it's going back to the goalkeeper. But even at that, George's contact, is it enough for Muirhead to go down in the fashion that he does? Is it a red card?
'I probably sit in the camp of it being soft. The game hinges on that one moment, in my opinion.'
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