SPFL refs hit a 'real low' as one boss rings up Willie Collum and says 'this wouldn't happen to Celtic or Rangers'

Derek McInnes has hit out at Kilmarnock being badly let down by a real low for refs.

The Rugby Park boss says standards need to improve. And McInnes insists he’s not there to praise chief Willie Collum for being transparent over bad calls. The Killie gaffer is still simmering over events in Paisley 10 days ago which he believes would still be a point of fierce discussions had it involved the Old Firm.

Kilie had Joe Wright sent-off during a 2-2 draw, while other controversial incidents involving St Mirren pair Shaun Rooney and Mikael Mandron went unpunished by ref Matthew McDiarmid and VAR Andrew Dallas. McInnes said: “I thought it was a real low for the refereeing department that performance. If the officials do their job right then we probably win that game. There’s no two ways about it for me. We felt really let down on some of the decisions.

“That has now been validated by the referee department by a phone call that I had with Willie Collum on the Monday after the game. I didn’t get a phone call, I phoned him. I’m not here to praise the referee department, Willie in particular, because they’re being transparent.

"I think it’s the way it should be and I’m glad that he senses that way. I feel I’ve always had a good line of communication with Willie when he was a referee, as a player or a manager. I do think he’s a guy who will make change and get things right over time and I think he’ll implement a standard that’s needed.

“There’s not much they can do after the event and I accept that there’s a need for them to be better and they should have been better. At times you see the benefits of VAR and that was a real case in point where VAR highlighted how poor a VAR decision it was as well, not helping the referee.

“If that