Alex Bruce accused Paul Heckingbottom of lacking class after being labelled a ‘f****** diver’ by the Hibs boss in the wake of Kilmarnock’s 1-0 win at Rugby Park.
Bruce was brought down by Hibs skipper David Gray as they tussled at a Chris Burke corner, leading to the penalty that won the game for the home side.
The defender was in the middle of speaking to the media when Heckingbottom made the comment as he passed en route to doing his own press duties.
That led to Bruce following Heckingbottom – a former team-mate at Sheffield Wednesday – into the Killie media room to ask him if he was being serious.
An angry exchange followed and Bruce later said: “That lacked class. He’s an old team-mate of mine and I expected better of him.
“If he had something to say to me then he should have done it in private.
“I’m certainly not a diver, that’s for sure.
“The referee actually said to Gray at the previous corner to keep his hands off me.
“It was blatant at the previous corner.
“It was in my mind that if he is going to put his hands on me again then he will give the decision
“He had his hands on me again and the referee gave the penalty.
“It was a big goal and an important goal for us as it turned out.”
Heckingbottom later claimed that Bruce HADN’T dived.
However, he remained adamant it wasn’t a penalty. He said: “We go back as we played with each other.
“We know each other well. I know him and he knows me.
“You can interpret it how you want.
“He has not dived, you can see that but it’s not a penalty although we got what we deserved.
“We just looked like a team with nothing to play for against a team with everything to play for on the day.
“And it was a result that was right. We must learn from it.”
