Hearts and St Mirren are set to benefit from Bobby Madden’s incompetence.
Yesterday the SFA offered Scott McKenna a two match ban for his assault on Odsonne Edouard which will see the defender miss out on domestic action until the October 27 match with Livingston.
Aberdeen have appealed against the suspension but going on previous disciplinary matters this season they are wasting their time and the £1,000 cost of making an appeal.
Had Madden did his job properly McKenna would have been sent off against Celtic giving the hoops 50 minutes to play against 10 men with the defender missing the next match, at home to St Mirren through suspension.
Now he faces a two match ban which will allow Hearts to benefit.
No punishment is likely for Madden with the SFA following their usual procedure of giving him a couple of Championship fixtures before being restored to the top match fees paid for Premiership fixtures.
On Saturday he will take charge of the Falkirk v Dunfermline match.