Scottish FA set a date to hear Hearts' appeal against Alan Forrest's booking for diving

A hearing is due to take place at Hampden Park to determine the outcome

The Scottish Football Association have set a date for Hearts' appeal against Alan Forrest's yellow card for diving against Ross County. The Edinburgh club submitted their challenge against the decision earlier this week and a fast track tribunal panel is due to convene in the next 24 hours to decide the outcome.

The date set for the hearing is Thursday, 4 January, when Hearts officials will look to clear Forrest's name. Tynecastle management have reviewed footage of the incident from multiple angles and are convinced the winger was wrongly cautioned by referee Alan Muir during Saturday's 2-2 draw in Gorgie.

SFA disciplinary rules state that yellow cards for simulation can be appealed and Hearts will put together a strong case in support of their player. The incident arose early in the second half when Forrest raced on to Lawrence Shankland's pass with the scoreline still 0-0. The Ross County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw slid in to challenge him but Forrest knocked the ball past him before falling to the ground inside the penalty box.

Referee Muir opted not to award a penalty and instead produced a yellow card for the Hearts player, who he felt was guilty of simulation. Video replays showed contact between Laidlaw's right leg and Forrest's left ankle, and Hearts will use those to back up their argument. The VAR system during the match was operated by David Munro, who deemed Muir correct in his decision to caution Forrest. Hearts head coach Steven Naismith strongly disagreed during his post-match analysis.

"There is contact on Al Forrest," he complained. "Now, I get the referee not seeing it with the speed of play, but VAR has got to see it. I have come in and looked at it and there is contact. If you pause it, there is contact, but it’s not given. It’s not good enough. There is contact, which means it’s a penalty. We might get an apology, Al might get his yellow card rescinded but I’m not sure he’s going to get enough [bookings] to get a suspension. It’s just really frustrating."