Striker Billy King thinks Hearts would have beaten Hamilton but for red card
ByPA Sport Report
Published 30/08/2015 at 12:21 GMT
Billy King firmly believes Hearts' 100 per cent league record would still be intact if they had not been reduced to 10 men against Hamilton.
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The Jambos were furious with the decision by referee Willie Collum to dismiss Callum Paterson during a fiery Ladbrokes Premiership encounter at New Douglas Park.
Boss Robbie Neilson even claimed afterwards he had predicted Collum would show a red card during the game.
Hearts were leading at that stage but went on to lose 3-2 - their first defeat of the season - and King has no doubt the controversial decision was a game-changer.
He said: "It's a hard one to take for us. We worked our socks off throughout the game and did well to get it back to 2-1.
"I think we would have cruised through had we kept 11 men on the park but unfortunately Callum got sent off.
"We lost a quick goal and were always on the back foot after that.
"I'll be honest, I didn't really see the incident at the sending off very clearly but Callum says it wasn't a red card."
The striker is not overly concerned by the defeat but insists it is crucial Hearts demonstrate a positive response in their next match.
He added: "It's now all about how we can bounce back from this result against Inverness Caley Thistle next week.
"This was our toughest game of the season so far because Hamilton press the ball really well.
"But if anyone had said at the beginning of the season we'd win five games and lose one we'd have taken that every day of the week.
"So, looking at things from that perspective, it's a good start and we need to look forward."
Accies had a deserved lead at half-time thanks to Gramoz Kurtaj before King levelled early in the second half.
Paterson then fired the visitors ahead - five minutes before the defender was sent off for a challenge on Darian MacKinnon.
Late goals from Ali Crawford and Jesus Garcia Tena secured all three points for the home side.
Garcia Tena said: "I think we controlled the first half and we had three clear chances.
"It was excellent the way the team worked together to get the win. It's always good to get the winner and a win for the team."
The defender believes the referee made the right call with the sending off.
He added: "I think it's a red card. It's a bad tackle. It's one where it maybe could be an orange card if we had them.
"But we only have yellow and red and the referee has to make a decision and I've seen people sent off for less than that.
"It was a big change. After they had a man sent off we thought that we could do it even more."
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