Presence of Brines will be awkward for Hearts

Brines, the fourth official at East End Park this afternoon, was the referee for Hearts’ League Cup defeat at Ayr, and has been the subject of a complaint by the Tynecastle side after disallowing what they believed to be a perfectly good goal scored by Jonsson.

Hearts manager Paulo Sergio has argued that Brines should not officiate in his club’s games until any Scottish Football Association investigation is concluded. Jonsson agrees, and remains convinced that his “goal” should have stood, but knows that if selected he cannot allow the grievance to prey on his mind during the game.

“You can’t really let these things disturb you,” the Icelandic midfielder said. “He has a job to do and we have a job to do and if there is going to be a clash [of scheduling] at some point then you can’t let that affect the way you go about your game.

“In the end it’s a game of football and we are wanting to win and Dunfermline are wanting the win too. You can’t afford to think too much about the referee, but it is strange that he has been assigned to this game if there is still something ongoing. If the club has asked for an explanation and it has not been given then it is weird that he has been given our game this weekend.”

For Jonsson, having his effort disallowed that night at Somerset Park literally added insult to injury. As he tried to head the ball an Ayr player’s feet caught him in the torso, and he received treatment before getting to his feet and being booked for handball.

“I didn’t know the ball had gone into the net because I didn’t see it happen,” he said. “I just jumped blind trying to get the ball, but when I saw it back on the television the ball went off my shoulder or back and went into the net.

“But the Ayr player jumped into me leading with both feet and got me in the ribs, and while I was lying on the ground in agony the players surrounded me and told me I had scored. I thought I was just getting a penalty and not a goal.

“I saw the linesman running towards the halfway line like a goal had been given, but when I stood up the linesman was coming back and the referee went over and spoke to him. Then he came over and booked me for handball.

“For me, after being on the ground in agony not knowing what happened, to get up and be booked for handball was really strange. He must have seen something that nobody else saw.”

Jonsson is out of contract at the end of the season, but has agreed a new deal in principle and is just waiting for Hearts and his agent to finalise terms. “We’ve had talks, just after the Celtic game. It was more or less to say hello and we’ve not really spoken seriously about it since then.

“The club has said they want me to stay and I would like to stay, but there’s no serious talks been started just yet.”

No sooner had Jonsson recovered from that injury than he picked up another knock, in Hearts’ win over Celtic. He is thus a doubt for this afternoon, but, having played a crucial role in that 2-0 victory, appears certain to be selected if fit.

“I went to international duty injured. We played Portugal away and I had a shoulder ligament injury from the Celtic game. I was struggling and I didn’t make the Portugal game, but I’ve been getting treatment and hopefully I’ll be ready for the Dunfermline game.”

Meanwhile, Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre has backed his players to bounce back from successive four-goal defeats. The Pars are currently in the midst of a poor run of results, having endured six matches without a win, most recently suffering 4-0 defeats to Rangers and Aberdeen. But McIntyre believes his charges possess the quality to trouble the Jambos, providing the Fifers show a massive improvement in terms of work ethic and industry as they seek to change the club’s fortunes and climb away from the drop zone.

“It’s up to us to make sure that if we do lose games then we are losing them in the right manner,” the former Dundee United striker challenged. “You go down scrapping and fighting for everything because that’s the only way to be. When you turn in a performance like the Aberdeen match then you deserve all the criticism going. We just weren’t at the races at all.

“We didn’t work hard enough, we didn’t pressure the ball and when we had the ball our quality was poor. Now they’ve got a chance to make amends.