Hibs boss Lee Johnson hails arrival of VAR but admits he may have to tone down goal celebrations

Hibs manager Lee Johnson has joked that the arrival of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) in Scottish football may force him to tone down his celebrations.

The Easter Road side’s cinch Premiership match against St Johnstone on Friday October 21 will be the first top-flight fixture in the country to be played with the new technology, which got the green light from FIFA earlier this week – ahead of its planned introduction after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Hibs have already been using a version of VAR in training in a bid to stay ahead of the curve but Johnson rued the fact that it wasn’t in place earlier, especially for Tuesday night’s defeat by Dundee United in which a Mykola Kukharevych goal was chalked off in controversial circumstances.

He said: "I am all for it although it’s two weeks too late in my mind, for a couple of reasons. Unfortunately, we got the wrong end of justice with couple of big decisions in the last game and that's what it is there for.

"You never truly know how it will pan out for you in any one game so there is always a little bit of nerves there, particularly at the start. It probably takes a little bit away from the celebration.

"As a manager I will be a little bit worried about doing a Jurgen Klinsmann dive or a Jose Mourinho, the knee slide on the floor, knowing I might look stupid if something goes wrong so again that will be a little bit awkward because I do like to be authentic with my celebration but I think it is a good thing.”