Sam Nicholson has revealed Celtic players told him the VAR handball decision against him was "crazy".
The former Motherwell ace, who has since joined Livingston, has insisted the ball "categorically did not hit his hand" after he was penalised against Celtic.
Celtic claimed a dramatic late 3-2 win over Motherwell earlier this month with a stoppage-time penalty after a VAR check at Fir Park.
John Beaton was called to the monitor and quickly pointed to the spot for a penalty, which Kelechi Iheanacho fired home.
Nicholson has now revealed he actually thought he had won a free-kick instead of a possible penalty check. And he was stunned when a penalty was awarded.
“I can categorically say, it never hit my hand,” Nicholson said in an interview with The Terrace.
“I was on the pitch with my son after the game kicking the ball about, and our media guy showed it to me.
“A couple of the Celtic boys came over and went, 'That's crazy.' I went, ‘Oh, thanks!’.
"It’s not great obviously to be in the middle of it all. I suppose stuff like that can come with the job. I obviously have my views on it.
“At the time, I wanted to speak out because I was getting questions. Because of the reaction, I was advised not to comment too much, and I obviously didn’t want to get myself in trouble.
"But if I’m honest, I thought we’d got a free kick on me because I jumped up first. If me and you were to jump up in the middle of the pitch to challenge for the ball and I jump up first and end up on my back, I think normally, I would have got a foul.
“That’s where my confusion was because I’ve seen them given loads in the middle of the pitch if someone jumps up and the other person bumps into them. It is usually a foul for the person that jumps up first.
“So, I was thinking it was a foul to us, and I thought I had bought us some time to be honest!
"When the ref said at first he was checking for a handball, I was like, 'Oh, right, I never handballed it, so it’s fine.’ Then when it was given, I was obviously confused."
