Terry Butcher thrilled after Greg Tansey red card wiped

Inverness boss Terry Butcher thrilled after Greg Tansey red card is wiped

Terry Butcher last night hailed referee Stevie O’Reilly – who admitted blundering by sending off Greg Tansey.

Butcher was furious when O’Reilly flashed a straight red card at the Inverness defender after a collision with Georgios Samaras in last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by Celtic.

The referee believed Tansey was guilty of violent conduct. But after viewing footage of the incident O’Reilly did a U-turn on his decision.

And yesterday Butcher thanked the ref when an SFA fast-track tribunal cleared his man and said the incident didn’t even merit a yellow.

The Inverness boss said: “It’s a victory for commonsense.

“We felt the player had been harshly done by and we have been justified in the outcome of this appeal.

“In fairness to referee O’Reilly, he indicated he’d reviewed the incident and now felt it should not have been a red card.

“I’d like to thank the referee, the panel and Vincent Lunny, the compliance officer.”

Tansey is now available for Inverness to face Hearts at Tynecastle tomorrow.