Heart of Midlothian star fears referee strike will put end to good form
Heart of Midlothian utility man Eggert Jonsson is hoping that the planned referees' strike does not go ahead as his club are in good form in the Scottish Premier League.
The Edinburgh-based side have won their last four league games, against Hibernian, Celtic, St Johnstone and Hamilton Academical, and they are scheduled to play against Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday 28 November.
But category one referees have voted to go on strike for the weekend's fixtures after receiving heavy criticism from clubs, managers, players and fans this season.
Despite efforts by the Scottish Football Association to bring in foreign officials in a bid to ensure as many games as possible go ahead, the weekend's fixture card looks set to be decimated.
At the launch of a sponsorship deal for Hearts' youth academy teams, Iceland international Jonsson expressed his hope that the strike action would be called off.
He told The Daily Record, "We're on a good run and want to keep it going. Since Kilmarnock beat us 3-0 we've won four in a row. We're playing well and keeping clean sheets so long may that continue. We just want the situation with the referees to
be resolved and don't want games called off. We're going to prepare as normally as we can because we want to be in the right state of mind for the game on Sunday if it's on."
Meanwhile, though he was sympathetic to the Scottish referees, who say their personal safety is at risk, Jonsson said he would have no problem with foreign referees officiating in the SPL.
"I don't really have an opinion on whether the referees are doing the right thing or not but they are only human. All referees have the same job and if they have to be brought in from another country then so be it. The rules of football are the same all
over the world so I don't see a problem with that."
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