Dunfermline Athletic coach Neil Lennon has defended Victor Wanyama after the former Harambee Stars midfielder was red carded on his debut.

Wanyama featured for his new club in a Scottish second-tier match against Ayr United on Saturday but ended up getting red-carded in the 19th minute. He was sent off for what the referee judged as a deliberate handball, but he has been defended by Lennon.

“He slipped, and his initial reaction is to reach out for it. But I thought we had a Jeremiah there; I didn’t think the guy would have been clean through.

“Listen, I’m not happy with the referee. I got booked today for apparently contesting the decision where my player got flattened and then the guy remonstrated with the referee and still didn’t get a card. Very, very strange performance from him,” Lennon told the club’s website.

On whether the red card is a big setback for Wanyama, Lennon said:

“I know, I know. I knew he was rusty. We actually had a real good spell at 1-0 and the second goal, in the fashion of it as well, but I thought Bene had a great game today, other than that. He needs to get minutes into his legs as quickly as possible. Now he’ll have to do a lot of conditioning work and training with the rest of the squad. He’ll be ready for next week, hopefully. I hope it’s just one game,” he added.

The former Celtic manager also believes Wanyama can be a big influence in the club.

“Yes, I mean, he’s given the boys… It’s fantastic having him in, but you can see he needs work. That’ll come, and you’re hoping we can have him for the remaining five games of the season, where he’ll have a huge impact for us,” he concluded.