Hibs point to Rangers handball incident and insist VAR teething problems 'have affected us more than anyone'

In need of even a point to arrest the recent run of results, the last thing Hibs needed at Ibrox was VAR to turn on them.

Hibs manager Lee Johnson faces the media ahead of the Christmas Eve clash against Livingston at Easter Road. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

After losing just two or their opening nine Premiership matches, the Leith side suffered seven defeats in the following eight outings. That haul includes the 3-2 disappointment at Ibrox in their most recent fixture.

But there was annoyance after they were denied a penalty that would have given them the opportunity to go 3-1 up, making it trickier for Michael Beale’s men to come back at them and take all three points.

Ten days on, and with pressure mounting on manager Lee Johnson to turn things around, Hibs welcome Livingston to Easter Road today, ahead of Celtic on Wednesday and then a trip across the capital for the derby on January 2. And, everyone knows the mood would be brighter if they were going into those fixtures on the back of a better result against Rangers.

“It becomes really frustrating, because you’re desperate for it, aren’t you? You want it badly, the players want it badly. And you get in a position where you have earned the opportunity, if the officials do their job correctly, and they haven’t for whatever reason.

“I am not blaming them, it could be the process, it could be the speed of it. But it’s a penalty, it’s as simple as that.

“Listen, we might not have scored the penalty, we might have and Rangers might have scored three. It doesn’t guarantee you the points but it gives you a damn sight more of an opportunity to get them.

“That’s what we brought VAR in for, to counteract that injustice. That’s why it’s disappointing. It’s teething problems but they have probably affected us more than anyone.”

His hope is that the players and the club can make that sense of injustice work for them as they look to close the five-point gap between themselves and third-placed Aberdeen.

They will overhaul Livingston if they can get the better of them today.

“There’s not one player in there that doesn’t want to be successful,” added the Leith gaffer. “The GPS numbers show they are giving everything.

“A lot of things have gone on in the recent run of results. In a number of those games we deserved more.”

The return of Kevin Nisbet has been a boost and they will be able to tap into Aiden McGeady’s ingenuity this afternoon but Myko Kukharevych remains an injury absentee, along with Martin Boyle , Lewis Miller, and Jake Doyle-Hayes.

Meanwhile Johnson refuted reports that Marijan Cabraja has been told he is free to move on in January but he has confirmed that Momodou Bojang will depart.

“We’re just dotting the is and crossing the ts on that one. There was a break clause in the loan. The context behind every move is different. It was never a Martin Boyle type transfer where everything was guaranteed. It was a deal to see whether we could open up an avenue to the African academies. It was a bit of a trial for us and him but because it was a loan that potentially had to be converted at a financial cost to the club, we had to make a decision.”