St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright accused Hibs striker Florian Kamberi of conning referee Gavin Duncan to earn a penalty as his side lost 2-1 to Hibs at McDiarmid Park.

The hosts had taken the lead through Chris Kane and were on top when Kamberi went down in the box under pressure from Liam Craig. Marc McNulty scored the spot-kick and later netted the winner despite Hibs being down to ten men following Vykintas Slivka's dismissal.

Wright was adamant that Craig didn't make any contact with Kamberi and said the decision was "a game-changer" but that the referee was not to blame and had been deceived.

He said: "We should have won. We've somehow managed to find a way to lose the game. We should have gone two up before half-time and we were under no pressure.

"And then the referee gets conned for the penalty. It's not a penalty, simple. I don't blame the ref.

"I've watched it back and you've got to be embarrassed for the lad, well maybe not, I'm not sure what type of character he is. But he's conned the referee, simple.

"He's looked as if he's been hit by a 40-foot truck.

"The referee feels there was more contact and, yes, the way he went down you would think there was more contact. But I don't think Liam Craig touches him.

"That's the game-changer. It's not the reason why we lost the game but it was a game-changer in terms of them getting back into it.

"We've somehow managed to lose a game where we've played very well."

Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom was delighted to see his side record their third straight win under him, despite difficult circumstances.

"The most pleasing bit was the character we showed when we went down to 10 men." he said.

"This was a different kind of win but you have to show that if you're going to get the consistency we're looking for.

"We have said that the more points we get now the easier it will be towards the end.

"We have dealt a blow to one of our rivals, so of course it's significant but there are plenty more points to play for.

"We were not at our best in the first half but I felt we improved after that. When we got a man sent off we had to show character and that's what pleased me."

Heckingbottom also confirmed that he is running the rule over former Manchester United defender Jonathan Spector, who watched the game in Perth.