St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson calls for VAR over penalty award at Aberdeen

Posted Wednesday, February 16, 2022 by PA

St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson called for VAR after a penalty decision he felt was harsh prevented his side from taking all three points from a 1-1 cinch Premiership draw against Aberdeen.

A win for Saints against the managerless Dons would have lifted them off the bottom of the table.

The visitors went in front early on thanks to Callum Hendry’s close-range strike, but Lewis Ferguson equalised from the penalty spot with 20 minutes left after Jamie McCart had been adjudged to have brought down Calvin Ramsay.

Davidson felt any foul took place outside the area and said: “The penalty baffles me. If there is contact – and I don’t think there is – it’s outside the box.

“In the last three games we’ve had a sending off and two penalties. I think it’s important we give referees a little bit of help with big decisions like penalties.

“The league is so tight and games swing really quickly on big decisions. I don’t particularly like VAR myself but it is something we have to look at as a game.

“We lost four players to injuries but we played with belief and confidence and if we keep doing that, we’ve always got a chance.”

Aberdeen caretaker boss Barry Robson hailed his side’s battling qualities and felt they could have won the game despite ending with a makeshift side that had goalscorer Ferguson slotting into the defence.

Robson said: “You can see a team that’s had a hard time of it lately and they’re lacking a wee bit of confidence.

“When St Johnstone scored their goal, you can see we didn’t move the ball quick enough but we grew into the game and we had some really good chances in the first half we should have scored.

“We lost Declan Gallagher at half-time, then lost Scott Brown and ended up with Lewis at centre-back. It’s the sign of a team that wants to fight and I like that.

“On another night we come away with a couple of goals win.”