'Rubbish.' Hearts boss Steven Naismith reveals two apologies after latest VAR issue - plus 4 injury updates

Tynecastle coach frustrated by decisions going against his team

Steven Naismith complained about poor officiating following Hearts' 2-2 draw with Ross County and insisted his team were denied two penalties. The Tynecastle head coach said he has received apologies from two referees over mistakes this season and that the VAR system is not good enough.

Hearts full-back Nathaniel Atkinson fell after a challenge from Ross County's Ben Purrington in the first half at Tynecastle Park. Then, after the interval, winger Alan Forrest was cautioned for simulation after falling as he went past the sliding challenge of County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw. On both occasions, match referee Alan Muir's decision not to award a penalty-kick was backed up by VAR - despite video replays of the second incident showing Laidlaw sliding in and making contact with Forrest's leg.

Naismith was angered by the decisions and remained convinced both decisions were wrong. David Munro was operating the VAR system during the cinch Premiership match and deemed that Muir was correct in both instances. Ross County went 2-0 ahead in the second half through goals from Josh Sims and Yan Dhanda before the hosts fought back through Kenneth Vargas and Lawrence Shankland.

"Kyogo Furuhashi [of Celtic] gets a penalty here by getting his body in front of the defender," said Naismith. "Today, Natty Atkinson gets his body in front of the defender, no penalty given. VAR should see it. At the second one there is contact on Al Forrest. Now, I get the referee not seeing it with the speed of play, but VAR has got to see it. I have come in and looked at it and there is contact. If you pause it, there is contact, but it’s not given.

“It’s not good enough. Twice already [this season] we have had apologies for the wrong decision being made by VAR. Rubbish. I think it’s two penalties. I can understand that the referee might not see the decision but the failsafe is VAR. The first one, opinion, is it or not? The second one, there is contact, which means it’s a penalty. We might get an apology, Al might get his yellow card rescinded but I’m not sure he’s going to get enough to a suspension. It’s just really frustrating."

Asked if he was surprised Muir quickly carded Forrest, Naismith gave a candid answer. "It’s just like the [League Cup] semi-final - Kingsley got booked rapid similarly to that. But again, you can’t blame the ref," he remarked. "If he thinks it’s a dive then he has to book him. That’s fair enough. But VAR should see it. That’s the frustrating thing. Because of the two penalty instances, we could have given ourselves a chance of winning the game. But overall, we probably didn’t deserve more than a draw. It was a leggy performance from us."

Ross County's brave display did not surprise Naismith. "No, because I think they have been a good team throughout the season who have been unfortunate with some of their results. Yes, they have changed their manager but I saw them in a 3-3 draw with Motherwell earlier in the season and they were a really good team. So they didn’t surprise us.

"I thought this was probably going to be one of the most challenging games in this period. There are bigger games like the derby and things like that but players are up for that. With this one, the timing of the game, when it is, what we have got to get through to get to it – it was always going to be difficult. So we have got to be pleased with getting something from the game.

"We will look back at the game and there will be positives. Hopefully we are looking back at this at the end of the season and saying it was a big point. It has been a good few years since we have come back from 2-0 down. That’s a positive. But the frustration is that, even with how bad we played in the first half, we still had opportunities where we broke through them. We never really took the chance and then the two penalty instances - if we score the first goal then the dynamic of the game totally changes."

Winger Barrie McKay and midfielder Beni Baningime both missed the game for Hearts. "Beni is not injured, it was more that he was feeling really fatigued," explained Naismith. "With him being out for such a long period, we didn’t want to risk him breaking down.

"Baz took a knock the other night [against Hibs] and it didn’t seem too serious, but he has had some swelling. He has had a scan and we are still waiting to hear back from the specialist about the extent of it. He won’t be available for Tuesday. Beni will be back involved. Liam Boyce and Jorge Grant probably won't be involved."

The Ross County manager Derek Adams was livid at the officiating prior to Hearts' second goal and felt his team deserved to win the game. "We murdered them in the first half. We had so many good opportunities in the game. The way we played, the way we passed the ball, the way we opened them up, it was a fantastic performance," he said.

"Look at the chances we created, the chances we could have scored, the goals we did score. A great goal from Sims, a great goal from Yan. Over the afternoon we were the better side, in my view. I know nobody cares about my view but I’m giving my view and I thought we were very, very good today.

"You’re coming up against a team that’s third in the league. That’s what you get with them and the players they have. We didn’t take our chances when we had them. We had so many good opportunities in the game and we could have been two or three up at half time. Over the afternoon I thought we deserved to win the game.

"The fourth official made a mistake at 2-1. We were putting on two substitutes and unfortunately the referee restarted the game when one of our substitutes was on and our other one wasn’t allowed to come on because the referee had started the game.

"That was hugely disappointing because the goal came straight after that. I’m going to speak to them and ask them to explain what happened. I know what he said to me at the time but we all know there’s a little black box that’s recorded and I would like to hear back what was said in that little black box. They will use it against a manager, but unfortunately you will have to use it against yourself at some point."

Adams was asked if he believed the confusion contributed to Hearts' equalising seconds later. "I can’t say that," he replied. "I don't think it did, but it confused the referee. In the end, they have made a huge error and it hasn’t helped us. Over the afternoon, I think we were very good and we deserved to win."