Steven MacLean in VAR claim in Rangers defeat as he insists rule is news to him after ref request shot down

St Johnstone gaffer Steven MacLean says there’s still confusion over VAR rules after he was hit with a yellow card against Rangers.

The McDiarmid Park boss was furious in the second half of their 2-0 defeat in Perth when ref Nick Walsh stopped a Saints break-away to give them a foul in the box. He felt it was a needless stoppage and when he tried to quiz the whistler he was booked for his trouble.

Afterwards, MacLean admitted he’s now unsure of what’s supposed to happen in that situation. And he wants to look at two incidents when striker Chris Kane went down looking for a penalty but VAR said no. MacLean said: “The rules are that VAR checks the game when the play stops. We had a counter-attack and the play was stopped. They are trying to tell me that’s the rule, which is news to me.

“I then tried to ask him a question when he came over to speak to me and he wouldn’t let me. With regards to the VAR calls, one of my staff said there were two hands around Kane at a corner but I haven’t looked back. VAR is meant to check them so they should get them right”

MacLean’s side are bottom of the Premiership table after goals from Danilo and Rabbi Matondo earned Rangers a victory. He was gutted at the manner in which they conceded but saw enough spirit from his team to offer encouragement going forward.

The Saints boss said: “I’m disappointed because the two goals we lost were poor. The first came from our corner. We then got done on the transition and didn’t run back towards our goal quickly enough. But in terms of our shape and our effort, I thought it was good.

“We had one or two good moments in the second half, we just didn't take our chances. When you get these opportunities against the big teams you have to take them. I’ve