Former ref airs grave Rangers and Celtic title worry as he hits the fear over what could decide it

Former top ref Steve Conroy fears issues at the top and bottom of the Scottish Premiership could be decided by blundering officials.

The league title race is neck and neck between leaders Rangers and champions and fierce rivals Celtic who are just a couple of points behind going into a huge Wednesday fixture card. One game took place on Tuesday night at the other end with relegation-threatened Ross County drawing at home with St Mirren.

And the Staggies got a huge stroke of luck with a VAR howler. Conroy admits he was staggered that video official Greg Aitken - back on VAR duties at Saturday’s Dundee-Kilmarnock clash - did not encourage referee Chris Graham to check a hand ball against Ross County’s Ryan Leak for a penalty as St Mirren were trying to come back from a goal down in Dingwall. In the end the Buddies grabbed a 1-1 draw, but the point County earned might prove crucial in their battle to escape the drop or the play-off place.

Former Grade 1 official Conroy told https://sportslens.com/uk: "The staggering decision in Dingwall does not give me confidence for the rest of the season. It comes just a couple of weeks after the SFA admitted a list of VAR mistakes but stuck Crawford Allan out there to say there were pretty happy with the technology.

“They also keep appointing the same officials to matches – and the bad outcomes keep coming. It seems to me the SFA is happy with what they have, but for me it’s nowhere near good enough. Clearly football fans deserve better.

“We have a really tight title race – so will a VAR blunder be pivotal? That’s got to be a concern. Equally, that point that Ross County got might just be enough to keep them clear so teams at the bottom must be equally concerned.”