Steve Lomas resolves to steer clear of trouble in 2013 as he treads fine line

A SFA judicial panel did not add to the Northern Irishman’s eight-game touchline ban on Thursday after deciding a warning would suffice following his dismissal against Hibernian last month. Lomas was found guilty of misconduct by kicking a water bottle carrier in frustration when Nigel Hasselbaink missed a late penalty in his side’s 1-0 home defeat on 28 November.

Lomas was hit with a six-match touchline ban earlier this month after being sent to the stand during his side’s 1-1 draw at Celtic Park, which also sparked a further two-match punishment which had been suspended after he labelled Ross County midfielder Richard Brittain a cheat.

Lomas, who has already served three matches and is due to return to the technical area when Celtic visit McDiarmid Park on 26 January, said: “I got a fair hearing and the panel recognised the water bottle was about pure frustration and not malice and I think common sense prevailed. There was really only one [charge] I believe amounted to anything and that was foul and abusive language at the Celtic game, and I apologised for that.

“I stand by what I said after the Ross County game and kicking a water bottle when your team has missed a penalty – it’s not the biggest crime is it? I do believe you don’t want to take the passion out of the game. I’m a passionate guy but I am also an honest guy. I realise my card has been marked and I am treading a fine line. So I will be taking a look at myself and hopefully the rest of the season is incident free.”

St Johnstone travel to Aberdeen today and Dons defender Mark Reynolds believes the Clydesdale Bank Premier League has become so tight this season that fixtures can now almost be described as “six-pointers”.

Three successive SPL defeats have left Aberdeen seventh in the table, albeit only a point behind fifth-placed Saints. Reynolds, on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, stressed the importance a victory or two can make to league positions as clubs battle for top-six and European placings.

“St Johnstone are certainly one of the form teams, they’re up there on merit,” the 25-year-old told RedTV. “They are getting good results and playing good football. There’s a lot of teams going well in the league and the top six or seven teams are very tight so these games are becoming almost six-pointers. Three results catapult you up the league and as you’ve seen with us, we were one game away from going top of the league and now we’re mid-table.”

Reynolds points to Aberdeen’s on-going injury problems as a reason for the Dons’ recent slump in which they have to look back to 27 October for their last home league win. Stephen Hughes, Ryan Fraser, Ryan Jack, Rob Milsom, Chris Clark, Gary Naysmith and Isaac Osbourne remain out while goalkeeper Jamie Langfield is suspended after failing with his appeal against the red card picked up against Kilmarnock last week.