Derek McInnes believes there’s a place for ex-referees in the VAR room after being left unsatisfied in his search for answers over why Kilmarnock were denied a Hampden penalty.

The Rugby Park manager remains dumbfounded his side were not awarded a late spot-kick when Giorgos Giakoumakis tangled with Joe Wright in the box. Moments later, Giakoumakis notched Celtic’s clincher as they booked a place in the Viaplay Cup final.

Post-match, McInnes was fiercely critical of the decision not to draw referee Willie Collum to the pitchside monitor and took his grievances to the SFA on Monday morning. And while he declined to divulge exact details, the Killie boss revealed he did not find the closure he was looking for.

“The conversation is always private but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the explanation I got,” he said. “I felt as though VAR was brought in for these types of situations.  We fought for it as managers, our clubs have put out a huge outlay to modernise and make sure we aren’t left behind. It was brought in to assist the referees and we can all see the benefit of it.

“We had 8,000 fans there and I felt we all deserved someone to take the time to review the situation. For all it takes to look at it, 30 seconds to a minute. 

“They might have looked at it and said it wasn’t a penalty, but I feel someone has to be strong enough in the VAR room to say to the ref he has to look at it again. If he still agrees with the decision then there isn’t much you can do as it is his opinion.

“But I felt VAR was brought in for decisions like that and we choose to ignore it. I find that astonishing and I am really let down by that.”

McInnes then floated the idea that recently retired officials could be recruited to assist with the video technology, insisting there are not enough ‘good, strong referees’ with the requisite experience when it comes to making high pressure judgements.

“It is still in its infancy in this country and everyone is learning every weekend,” McInnes said. “I think VAR has been great for offsides and that type of situation, as it is conclusive.

“I think it has been used very well and we have arrived at more better decisions. But I think they need to utilise it the best way possible and Saturday was a case and point.

“We don’t have enough good, strong referees that are experienced in this country. It is a tough ask to get young refs through and I feel that you still want your best referees on the park.

“I think there is a place for ex-referees to be in the VAR room. They might not be able to run about anymore but they can make a decision. It allows us to have the best referees on the park. That has no bearing on Saturday but what we needed was someone, I felt, in the VAR room to say to the referee ‘you should look at that again’ and be strong with it.

“It was such an important decision and they gave the wrong decision. I don’t even know if there is an appetitite for that, if ex-referees would want to do that. 

READ MORE: Derek McInnes slams SFA over Kilmarnock penalty snub vs Celtic

“But we don’t have enough experienced referees. They are getting fast-tracked through and it’s a big strain on the refereeing department.

“I just felt that could be a way of alleviating that a wee bit, so you still have your best referees on the pitch. That’s separate to last Saturday. I think we are all accepting that they are not going to get it right all of the time. 

“But when you [used to] speak to Hugh [Dallas], John Fleming and Crawford [Allen] and they would say over the years, the referee’s view was blocked and you would maybe look at the tape and understand it.

“Or he gets one shot at it, Derek. And you would have that sympathy for the situation. I just feel as though there is an opportunity to go and look at those major things. Not stopping the game for everything because that would annoy everyone.

“But for those key moments. And that couldn’t have been a bigger moment in the game and still it wasn’t reviewed. I don’t understand why.”

As much as it still stings, McInnes is determined to park that frustration, or perhaps channel it, when Rangers arrive at Rugby Park this evening. He has been encouraged by two very creditable back-to-back displays against Celtic, but now aims to take that a step further with a positive result.

“There’s no real pleasure in losing games but by the same token we do take a lot of positives from the level of performance in both,” McInnes said. “Particularly the game at Hampden, and getting the balance right between being defensively sound and not allowing very good players the space to operate, but still trying to carry a threat yourself.

“We tried to get the balance of that right at the weekend and we gave ourselves a chance. We’re going to have to show those qualities again against Rangers.

“We are at home. We have to start dealing with league business and get points on the board. Tomorrow night presents the chance to get some points and hopefully we’re good enough to do that.”