Robbie Deas was left 'speechless' by the decision to award Celtic a last-second penalty which resulted in Kilmarnock losing Sunday’s match.
Killie defender Lewis Mayo was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box in front of the Chadwick Stand at Rugby Park, leading to a spot kick which was duly dispatched by Hoops debutant Kelechi Iheanacho.
A pause in play in the final of the three additional minutes appeared to be for Dominic Thompson to receive treatment.
However, Matthew MacDermid conducted a VAR check after the ball struck Mayo’s arm, after deflecting from close proximity off Deas’ boot. He instructed John Beaton to check the pitchside monitor, and the referee subsequently awarded Brendan Rodgers’ men a penalty.
The result sent Celtic back to the top of the Premiership table, but left Stuart Kettlewell's side reeling. After deservedly hauling themselves level on 83 minutes through a bullet header from David Watson, Kilmarnock looked to be on course for a valuable point against the defending champions, only to eventually walk away empty handed.
An emotional Deas gave his thoughts on the decision post-match, saying: "It's a big sickener. I've seen it back, I don't understand how it has been given but I blocked the shot away from goal and (Lewis) Mayo's not even half a yard away from me.
“I'm a bit speechless. I'm raging inside, but these are the things unfortunately in football just now, so I can't say too much."
Despite going 1-0 behind to Daizen Maeda's diving header, Kilmarnock grew into the game as the second half went on. The equaliser when it eventually arrived was well-deserved, and the home side began to threaten a late winner.
Killie were then brought back down to earth in heartbreaking style when Beaton was sent to the VAR monitor. That all-too-familiar sinking feeling brought on when the pitchside screen is consulted spread quickly around Rugby Park, before the penalty was awarded shortly afterwards.
"Yeah it's frustrating especially for myself for a defender,” Deas added when addressing VAR. “Look, I know the refs are trying to make it more interesting and all this stuff. Obviously they've brought VAR in. I thought we actually looked like the team that was going to go on and win the game, and then to go and lose the game in that sort of manner is just an absolute sickener.
"I'm raging, the boys are gutted, but I think we can take a lot from the game and turn it into positives. I thought the fans were brilliant today for us, and I think they could see what we are and I think we should take so much from the game today that we can go out and compete and I don't think we deserved to lose the game. It's disappointing that it's took something like that to lose it."
Deas feels that the upcoming Premier Sports Cup quarter final is the ideal opportunity for Killie to get over the disappointment of such a late defeat. St Mirren are the visitors to Rugby Park this Friday, with the victor stamping their ticket to Mount Florida for a date at the national stadium. Helping Kilmarnock reach Hampden would be just the tonic for Deas to put the Celtic defeat firmly in the rear view mirror.
He said: "It always takes a couple of days to sit in but the good thing is that we've got a game on Friday. We need to just forget about it, come in tomorrow, and we'll analyse the game as we always do.
“We'll forget about the penalty incident, it is what it is, it's not going to change anything now. Focus on the positives, learn from the negatives, and look forward to the game on Friday.”
