ST MIRREN today lodged an appeal over Will Haining's controversial sending-off in the 1-0 defeat at Parkhead.

Referee Eddie Smith showed the Saints stopper a straight red card, and awarded Celtic what turned out to be a match-winning penalty after Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink tangled with Haining on the hour mark.

It was a decision that turned the game on its head as Barry Robson converted from the penalty spot to net the only goal of the game.

Manager Gus MacPherson studied TV replays last night, and Sport-Times can reveal the Paisley club will contact the SFA in a bid to get the decision overturned.

As is the procedure with red-card appeals, Smith will be asked to look again at footage and decide whether or not he feels an error was made.

MacPherson said: "The referee only has one view, and has a split second to make a decision. And from his angle on the pitch at ground level, he obviously believed an infringement had occurred. But TV pictures have an angle which no official had during the game. It clearly shows Will Haining does not commit a foul. Hopefully, the referee will look at these pictures and reconsider the red card.

"As things stand, Will is now going to miss our home match with Kilmarnock this Saturday. But we would hope to have him available for that game by appealing his red card."

Whistler Smith was at the centre of controversy the last time he handled a St Mirren v Celtic game back in February.

In the dying minutes of that match, the whistler awarded a soft free-kick to Celtic outside the box and Shunsuke Nakamura stepped up to score from the set-piece.

Smith was heavily criticised for that decision, and chose to explain things at the time on the SFA's whistleblower website, stating: "I was confident that the Celtic player, Nakamura, had been impeded.

"I have one snapshot view and have to make an instant decision with no benefit of slow motion replays."

MacPherson also claimed that Smith winked at him during the game, and the Love Street boss was concerned that he may have been singled out at a recent get-together of referees.

"There were pictures of SPL managers on a screen when the referees had their meeting at St Andrews.

"I don't know the context of it. It might be completely innocent," he added.

"But I think it's a dangerous thing to do, to put individual managers on screens. It's worrying, I was one of them."