How Hibs are preparing for VAR - 'the eye in the sky could nab you'

Hibs manager Lee Johnson will have to tweak his training and preparation once VAR comes in.

The Easter Road side are one of six clubs vying for third place, with just three points separating current incumbents St Mirren from Livingston in eighth place. Hibs sit fourth going into this weekend’s round of fixtures but Johnson isn’t ready to curtail ambitions.

“Sometimes in Scotland it feels like everyone's already written off every place in the league,” said Johnson. “Football's not like that. You're not playing the history of a club, you're playing 11 human beings.

"We've seen it already this season; loads of controversy, sendings-off, big decisions, big missed chances. It's crazy because it's football and that's what we love about it.”

But with suggestions that VAR could be rolled out imminently rather than wait for the clubs to return from the winter World Cup break, the Leith gaffer is aware of the influence it could have on results and has taken as many steps as possible to ensure his players are ready for every new permutation.

"Now you've got the added dynamic of potentially VAR coming in and that could be just around the corner; we don't fully know yet, we haven't had the heads up.

"Originally we were told it could be implemented at any point and I think that's quite a big adjustment to come in halfway through the season and it is a bit concerning for me because it's a realm I don't know.I haven't experienced it before.

"How you coach, how you work, how you defend, how you block shots now all come into consideration because the eye in the sky could nab you.”

Johnson is well aware of the controversies that have blighted the introduction of video technology south of the border and in European football, with fans, players and managers particularly vexed by the associated changes to the way assistant referees officiate offside.

When VAR is in use and there is a scoring opportunity, they are trained to keep their flag down until the attack is foiled or the ball goes out of play or finds the net.

"We're already working with VAR in training, if it's an offside,” explained Johnson, whose men meet Motherwell on Saturday hoping to make it four wins in four. “We train with our coaching staff as linos and we finish it anyway. So, that's already started and then we decide if it was offside afterwards.

"We've got some IP cameras being set up over the next couple of weeks and my aim is to go to the big man [chairman and owner Ron Gordon] and ask for a pitchside TV as well because then we can start using VAR in our training sessions to get used to it.

"At Bristol City I was one of the first in the EFL to have a big screen pitchside for training and it was fantastic the way we used it, it really aided our retention of information."And, with every point valuable in a league where a win or a loss can quickly propel teams upwards or see them drop several spots in the table, he believes in going into the new era prepared and with eyes wide open.