Dundee should have been awarded a penalty in their second-half defeat to Ross County at the weekend.
That’s what referee chief Willie Collum told Dens boss Tony Docherty in a phonecall on Sunday.
Docherty has been full of praise for Collum and the job he has done in his first season as head of referee operations.
Though he was less complimentary about the use of VAR in the 2-0 loss in Dingwall after seeing a penalty awarded against his team.
Ethan Ingram’s aerial challenge with Staggies striker Jordan White saw referee Grant Irvine sent to the monitor. The official agreed with VAR and County went on to score and win the game.
However, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher examined the decision on Sky Sports News, saying: “If you look at it, you think it’s a bit harsh.
“Then you see he actually grabs his shirt, you can see the top of his shoulders, that’s why he brings him down.
“Good spot by the VAR.”
‘Absolute stonewall penalty’
Docherty insisted it was not enough to warrant an intervention from the video assistant in his post-match thoughts.
Now he has revealed another call went against them in the second half when Simon Murray went over Kacper Lopata’s challenge in the County box.
“One thing I have to be thankful for is [head of referees] Willie Collum, who I have praised before,” Docherty told DeeTV.
“He phoned me yesterday to tell me he’d watched it back, I won’t go into details, but he thought we had an absolute stonewall penalty in the 55th minute against Simon Murray.
“That can change the outcome of the game and I am disappointed in that obviously.
“Regardless of how the team performs, you need things to go for you and that didn’t.
“I appreciate massively Willie’s honesty and openness. That’s the way it should be.
“Previously there was a decision that maybe should have went against us in the derby, which I agreed with.
“This one should have went for us but we didn’t get the decision.”
Message to fans
Despite the disappointment of defeat, Docherty insists it won’t take long for the “real buzz” over preparation for a big cup tie to kick in at Dundee.
The Dark Blues head to Ibrox to face Rangers in a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final this Saturday.
The Dens boss took in the Gers clash with Dundee United on Sunday as the aims to get the better of Philippe Clement for the first time.
And he’s aiming to give the fans travelling to Glasgow more to shout about than they managed to at Dingwall on Saturday.
Docherty said: “I just wanted to put across the message that I feel the fan disappointment.
“They travelled up, put out a lot of money and effort to get there, and myself and the players want to thank them for that.
“They are brilliant, absolutely outstanding and we will be looking for that this week at the big game in Glasgow.
“We know it will be a big, big effort from everybody.
“But I’d like to applaud the fans and thank them for what they did at the weekend.”
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