Derek McInnes was frustrated that Ross County had not been reduced to 10 men much sooner as Kilmarnock lost in the Highlands.
Ross Callachan was shown a yellow card in the first half for a lunge from behind on Ryan Alebiosu as Killie tried to counterattack at pace.
There was also a questionable challenge from Staggies captain Jack Baldwin later on, before Callachan eventually received a second handball yellow with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Despite their extra man, Kilmarnock still came away empty-handed after Owura Edwards’ winning goal for County – but McInnes felt the situation could have been very different had Callachan been sent off before half-time.
“Callachan’s challenge is outrageous,” McInnes fumed.
“It’s a red card and, between four officials, they have to see what I see.
“He’s two feet off the ground, on the back of our boy’s trailing leg. It was awful.
“It was right in front of me, and there’s no excuse for the officials not seeing it as a red.
“If Ross County plays the majority of the second half with 10 men, I think that’s a different outcome.
“As good as we were in the second half and I thought we were the better team, you have to credit County for their resilience with 10 men – and they found a way to win.”
County leader Malky Mackay had no qualms about Callachan receiving his marching orders.
He saw slightly different things to his counterpart in the visiting dugout, however, saying there were tough challenges from both sides – including a penalty shout from Josh Sims and a flailing arm from Liam Donnelly on Callum Johnson.
As a result, he saw no reason to criticize referee David Munro’s overall performance.
“I thought the officials were good because it was a tough Premiership game,” Mackay said.
“I have no qualms about the two reservations for the shipment. There were other tackles, but I’m quite relaxed.
“Donnelly’s arm in Callum’s face is a sending-off and we should have had a penalty, but the opposition can also claim certain things – it was one of those days.
“I’m disappointed we went to 10 men, but so glad we went to 10 and then took the game to Killie to go and win it.”
