IT’S been a strange few days in the life of Celtic centre-back Auston Trusty.
Hailed as a goal hero in back-to-back Europa League encounters against Bologna and FC Utrecht, the USA World Cup Finals-bound defender saw red in last weekend’s 2-2 Premiership stalemate against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Tomorrow he gets a seat in the stand when the champions take on Falkirk at Parkhead, courtesy of an automatic ban following his dismissal in Edinburgh.
The Hoops hierarchy, as expected, appealed against the sending-off, but the SFA independent panel, in their infinite wisdom, decided to throw it out.
LET US PLAY…Auston Trusty will miss out against Falkirk tomorrow.
Trusty’s initial yellow card for a coming-together with striker Landry Kabore was upgraded to a red following a VAR intervention.
John Beaton interrupted proceedings to send referee Steven McLean to the touchline monitor and, much to the joy of the home players and support, the match official returned to the pitch and hastily brandished a red card at the Celt.
The flashpoint incident occurred in the 74th minute and Derek McInnes’ side snatched an equaliser 13 minutes later in a confrontation that also had eight minutes added on in stoppage-time.
Trusty, quite rightly, feels hugely disappointed and admitted: “Without saying too much, I think everyone probably knows my opinion on it. I’ve seen some stuff online.
“The majority of the world probably has the same opinion as me on it. But the decision’s made. I can’t do anything about it.
“My opinion and people’s opinions outside doesn’t really matter if they uphold it. So, at the end of the day, I can’t do anything about it now.”
Trusty was punished for denying an “obvious goalscoring opportunity”, but insists the incident wasn’t as clear-cut as it appeared.
TUNNEL VISION…Auston Trusty heads for the dressing room as Martin O’Neill ponders next move.
The American international, who cost £6million when he arrived from Sheffield United on deadline day 2024, continued: “I think if you slow anything down and then look at just that, not the bigger picture, it probably can look a certain way.
“It’s all opinion. That’s football.”
Trusty believed the booking was about right with the ball drifting away from goal at the time of his clash with Kbore.
The 25-year-old pivot, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I mean, obviously, fair enough you get a yellow card. Usually in a situation, they’re going to give you that, which is what it is.
“But it turned into more than that and I was off the pitch.
“I want to play every single game for this team. I want to be that guy in the back, one of the best guys on the pitch and try to be there for my team-mates.
“We need to win games no matter what and we’re in a fight for the title
“Obviously, to miss a game, that sucks. I don’t want to miss a game. But again, it’s football.”
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