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Jozo Simunovic banned for two league games after red card in friendly

The Scottish Football Association confirmed the defender would be suspended for two matches after he was sent off against St Gallen on July 2.

Jozo Simunovic will miss the first two matches of the Ladbrokes Premiership season following his recent red card in a friendly in Switzerland.

The Scottish Football Association confirmed the defender would be suspended for two matches after he was sent off against St Gallen on July 2.

Simunovic will miss the season opener against St Johnstone at Parkhead on August 3, and a trip to Motherwell seven days later.

The centre-back was initially shown a yellow card for a head-high challenge on Boris Babic, but the colour was changed to red following a VAR review. The video system was being trialled ahead of its introduction in the Swiss top flight.

A domestic suspension will now apply after the Swiss football authorities reported the sending-off to their Scottish counterparts.

The development will come as a blow to manager Neil Lennon, who has been employing a makeshift defence following the summer departures of Filip Benkovic, Dedryck Boyata and Mikael Lustig.

Midfielder Nir Bitton played in central defence alongside Simunovic in their opening Champions League qualifiers against Sarajevo with Kristoffer Ajer shifting to an unfamiliar right-back role.

New centre-back Christopher Jullien is just short of match fitness.

Lennon is hoping to strengthen his defence before the suspension and revealed on Wednesday night he was closing in on his fourth summer signing.

Reports in Israel claimed a deal had been agreed for versatile defender Hatem Abd Elhamed to move to Glasgow from Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic220085275884
2RangersRangers220078255381
3Hearts20114637963
4Kilmarnock20114438652
5St Mirren21014246-446
6Dundee20024659-1341
Relegation Group
1Hibernian21014854-642
2Aberdeen22003749-1241
3Motherwell21015053-340
4Ross County21013459-2533
5St Johnstone20022550-2531
RLivingston21012563-3821
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
RLivingston3339212259-3718


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