MARVIN Bartley has revealed that he was one of three Hibernian players who narrowly avoided being struck by missiles after the Edinburgh derby on Wednesday night – and expressed amazement that none of them was scarred for life.

Neil Lennon, the Hibs manager, was struck in the face by a pound coin after a Hearts goal was disallowed at the end of an incendiary Ladbrokes Premiership game at Tynecastle.

But Bartley, Martin Boyle and Lewis Stevenson were also targeted by yobs as they made their way off the field following a game which saw Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal get hit by a Hibs fan as he retrieved the ball from behind his goal.

The Englishman, whose team drew a bad-tempered encounter with their city rivals 0-0, felt they were highly fortunate to escape without suffering a serious injury.

“I had a coin thrown at me after the game,” he said. “It’s just gone across the front of me. I can put up with the abuse, but when people act like that there is no place for it. If it hits me it’s going to scar me, open me up, especially at the pace it’s thrown down at me.

“There were things coming on the pitch, I think something has happened to Lewy (Lewis Stevenson) and something has been thrown at Boyler (Martin Boyle) as well. It was the worst since I have been playing in these derbies.

“If they catch you in the wrong place . . . But I don’t think people think about stuff like that. They throw a coin and big it up – ‘look at what I have done!’ There’s no place for it in football.

“When you are worried about your safety on a football pitch rather than the game then something is not right. Luckily we are coming away everyone safe and the gaffer is okay and will recover.”

Bartley admitted he had been shaken earlier when he looked across at the Hibernian dugout and had saw Lennon lying in his technical area receiving treatment from Easter Road medical staff.

“We didn’t know what had happened,” he said. “He wasn’t moving. The referee said he was going to stop the game. But the gaffer got up and the game went on. There were only a few minutes left.

“It’s not something you want to see in football, in a football stadium. I get it’s a derby, but people have to be more responsible in their actions. Thankfully he is okay.”

Bartley has urged Hibs and Hearts supporters who know who was responsible for the Zdenek and Lennon assaults to inform the police so the offenders can be punished appropriately.

“You can get involved in the atmosphere without throwing coins or anything else,” he said. “I think the supporters around him or her should say who it was because there’s no place for it Everyone wants to win, everyone is passionate, but there’s no place for that.

“You cannot blame the stewards or the police because if someone wants to do something like that then it happens so quickly you can’t stop them,” he said. “Maybe they have to grow up and support their teams rather than do something silly like that.”

Bartley felt that Hibs, who had striker Florian Kamberi sent off for a second bookable offence in the second-half, had deserved to win against opponents whose lead at the top of the Premiership table was reduced to four points with the draw.

“In a few days we’ll be playing again,” he said. “We’ll reflect on it, but we have to move on.”