STAGGIES BOSS URGES PATIENCE WITH VAR

Ross County manager Malky Mackay called for patience as Scottish football deals with the introduction of VAR but stressed there would always be subjective decisions after his side were awarded a contentious penalty at Celtic Park.

Matt O’riley was penalised after a teammate hit the ball off County player Callum Johnson at close range and the ball ricocheted on to the midfielder’s arm, which was right on the edge of the box.

David Cancola netted from the 50th-minute penalty but Celtic came back to win through goals from David Turnbull and Sead Haksabanovic.

Mackay said: “Listen, there are going to be subjective ones but it’s clear in England after a number of years, it’s gone up from 83 to 98% in terms of the accuracy of decisions.

“And the big ones will always be better for us now.

“There’s always going to be subjective ones, we have had a couple against us already. You swallow it and get on with it.

“But I was in at the VAR centre two weeks ago and, having seen what it is that they are actually going though, it is going to take a bit of time and it is going to be better for Scottish football.”

Celtic go into the World Cup break nine points clear after their eighth consecutive league win.

Manager Ange Postecoglou said: “Where we are in terms of points in relation to other clubs is not the important bit.

“It is how we are performing and how we are dealing with things, the challenges.

“It has been a really strong start to the season, but we are less than halfway through and there is a lot of football to be played.

“We are going to see a lot of growth when the league resumes in our players after what they have been through.

“Matty and Reo (Hatate) have pretty much played every game. When Cal (Mcgregor) went down, there were big shoes to fill.

“He is an influential figure, outstanding footballer, and those two relatively young guys have done that.”