Hibernian striker Colin Nish claimed he was being unfairly punished by referees after being sent off in the 2-0 defeat by Hamilton.

Nish received an injury-time yellow card after an aerial challenge on Mark McLaughlin, soon after being booked for a similar incident with Martin Canning. The dismissal capped a miserable afternoon for Nish, whose recall to the starting line-up turned sour as early as the eighth minute when his handball allowed Simon Mensing to open the scoring from the penalty spot.

"It was two honest challenges," Nish said. "The first one I think I did catch him but I didn't think I caught him with my elbow, more my hand."

He added: "The second one, I was just trying to get my body in front of him to hold him off.

"That's what you get taught to do, but unfortunately every time I do it I seem to get fouls against me.

"It summed up the day for me, it summed up a year and a half for me."

Hibernian manager John Hughes added: "I felt Nish's second yellow card was very, very soft.

"I've had the chance to see it on the screen. It didn't merit a second yellow card." As well as being unjustly punished, Nish also claims he is badly protected by officials.

"I never seem to get any fouls," the 28-year-old said. "I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

"Sometimes I try not to use my hands and you just give the ball away because it's impossible. To be fair, I don't have anything personal against that referee. It just seems that every time I win a ball, it's a foul. It affects my game a wee bit but that's how it goes."