CALEY BOSS FEARS VAR WILL SPOIL SEMI

BILLY DODDS has admitted he is worried by the prospect of VAR ruining tomorrow’s Scottish Cup semi-final between Falkirk and Inverness. there is no video technology in the Scottish lower leagues, so SFA refereeing chief Crawford Allan visited both Championship side Caley thistle and the League One Bairns this week to talk them through how VAR works. however, after witnessing some high-profile blunders in the Scottish Premiership since VAR was introduced back in October, Dodds is left hoping his team’s first experience of the technology does not leave a sour taste in the mouth. the Caley thistle boss said: ‘I’m wary of it, let’s just say that. It was good of Crawford Allan to come up and explain how it will work because it is new to us. But I worry about it after some of the things I have seen this season. I just hope we can avoid having to use it too much and just go and win the game. that’s what I’m looking for. hopefully VAR doesn’t have a big impact on the game. ‘But as a former player and a manager who is looking after my team, you can’t help but worry about it. Let’s just hope it runs nice and smoothly.’ Meanwhile, Dodds insists those running the Scottish game don’t want to see a Championship team in the final. the winners of tomorrow’s semi-final will face Celtic or Rangers in the final at hampden on June 3. however, should Caley thistle also progress to the Premiership play-off final, the second leg of that showdown is scheduled for Sunday, June 4, with the first leg on June 1. the SPFL have already announced contingency plans that would see the play-off final moved to June 6 and 9 if Caley thistle are involved in that match and the Scottish Cup final. But Dodds believes the initial scheduling suggest the powers-that-be would rather Championship clubs did not trouble the latter stages of the Scottish Cup. he said: ‘I honestly don’t think the set-up is looking after Championship clubs. ‘Nobody expects Championship clubs to be in the latter stages of the cup or they wouldn’t have made the play-off games when they did. Or they hope that we don’t (get to the latter stages of the cup) — because you wouldn’t make the Scottish Cup final the day before the play-off final.’