SFA 'announce' verdict of Rangers ref audio review as St Johnstone told there was NO whistle before goal

The SFA have reportedly told St Johnstone of their verdict after reviewing Matthew MacDermid's audio prior to Cyriel Dessers' opener in the Premier Sports Cup.

The Daily Mail report that the governing body have said that referee MacDermid did NOT blow his whistle before the Light Blues took the lead in Glasgow's south side just after the hour mark against St Johnstone. The match official and VAR Greg Aitken have come under fire for the handling of the second half incident in Mount Florida. Dessers fired home for Philippe Clement's men but the match official appeared to indicate a foul on Saints stopper Jack Sanders in the build-up.

However, Aitken sent the referee to the monitor and he was happy that no foul had been committed and awarded the goal. We told previously how St Johnstone believed the whistle had been blown for a foul, which should have seen play stopped and deemed any resulting goal redundant. But SFA chiefs are believed to have informed Craig Levein's men that MacDermid was in the clear after the Perth side demanded answers.

Speaking after the game on Saturday evening, fuming St Johnstone gaffer Levein said: "If he indicates it's a free-kick for us, which he did, and everybody's looking at him, and then he stops - that's a mistake on his part. I don't know what excuse they're going to come up with, but I'd love them just to hold their hands up and say 'look, I'm sorry, we got that wrong'."

Rangers went on to win the game 2-0 with Ross McCausland netting in the second minute of added time to make sure of the win. The result handed the Light Blues a spot in the last eight with Dundee next up for the holders.

The Ibrox side are drawn at home with the fixture to take place on the weekend of September