Hearts boss Craig Levein insists SFA compliance officer Clare Whyte is responsible for giving Scottish football a bad name, not the players.

Levein is stunned that both his club and Aberdeen have both been hit with a notice of complaint over last weekend's second half melee that saw four rival players being booked by referee John Beaton.

Whyte has also pulled up Celtic and Rangers for failing to control their respective teams in the ill-tempered Old Firm tussle, while Hoops captain Scott Brown has been cited over his celebrations.

Hearts and Hibs both successfully fought against a breach of disciplinary rule 204 ‘where three or more players are involved in a confrontation with the opposing team’ following last October’s tussle at Tynecastle.

And as Levein prepares to host rivals Hibs today for what is sure to be another rip snorting derby, the ex-Scotland boss insists Whyte has needlessly brought negativity on the game north of the border by getting involved in nothing incidents.

READ MORE: Neil Cameron: The SFA should be the adult in the room when everyone else has lost the plot over Old Firm game

He said: “I don’t know if this is something that’s coming from the governing body or the SPFL, who have asked the compliance officer to make Scottish football look bad.

“Because that’s what is happening.

“I see it coming up on the telly and say: ‘Oh, here we go again, something negative about Scottish football'.

“And I look at what they’re talking about – and it’s almost an eightsome reel. Nothing.

“What happens is the compliance officer gets involved, and the pictures are all over the UK.

“It’s almost like the compliance officer is trying to make Scottish football look bad.

“I don’t understand it. We had one earlier in the season and it got thrown out because it was just a nonsense.

"Aggression is something people don’t like talking about. I think it’s a brilliant thing in football. You need it.

“I don’t know why she’s picking on the clubs – and trying to magnify things that are nothing.

“These things happen in every game in England. And it doesn’t seem to bother anybody down there.

“It worries me what’s happening behind the scenes with people getting involved in stuff.

“Why change something that’s working? Football in Scotland is good just now. It’s competitive.”

Levein insists last weekend’s incident involving his players, which was triggered when Dons defender Dom Ball and Hearts midfielder Sean Clare clashed over a challenge, was nothing out of the ordinary.

He added: “Why are we trying to stamp that out? It’s not out of control. The referee’s in charge. They are quite good now, they just stand back, watch what’s going on and then give people cards.

“It’s dealt with. Why the hell are we getting involved in trying to further punish teams and players for caring about their team-mates?

“It’s just people showing passion and actually caring about their team-mates.

“We’ve done away with tackling. There is such a thing as tackling with excessive force. I mean, what the hell does that mean?

“It used to be that if you tackled harder than the other guy, you won the ball. I don’t know where we’re heading.”

And Levein insists he will ask his players to push the boundaries of the laws in today’s eagerly-anticipated battle with their Leith foes.

He added: “In this game my job is to get them keyed up and get them right at the edge of their limits, so they can play just – just – within the rules.

‘Because that’s what the supporters want.

“I tell every player who comes here that Scottish football is different.

“Our supporters want to see somebody on the field, wearing a Hearts jersey, who cares. That’s all they want.

“They care about the team, they care about the result. And they want to see players covered in sweat at the end of the game, because they’ve worked their backsides off for the team.

‘When you get to that level and you are pushing things to the edge then, occasionally, things will spill over.

“At times, I think it makes it quite exciting – providing it’s nothing stupid.

“And I think we should see it as part of the game.”