Aberdeen manager Barry Robson believes his side were denied two clear penalties in their League Cup loss to Rangers at Hampden – but will not criticise officials for missing them.
The Dons boss is frustrated at a tug on Stefan Gartenmann’s shirt in the box by Todd Cantwell and a challenge by Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland on Duk were not given at Hampden on Sunday.
The Aberdeen manager is convinced both incidents would have resulted in penalties being awarded had referee Don Robertson been asked to review them.
However frustrated he may be at VAR not intervening on Sunday, Robson has sympathy for the officials involved.
He said: “These are things that have gone against us. That is my frustrations with those.
“I don’t know if they were (VAR) checked.
“There is no debate over them.
“For me, I can’t say anything. I need to accept them like I have had to accept every time.
“We all make mistakes. I make them as a manager, referees make them and players make them.
“We all make them but I can’t get involved in that because of the position I am in.
“I don’t want to start going against referees and VAR. Referees have a really difficult job like us.”
Inconsistency baffles Dons boss
Seeing Gartenmann punished for the same jersey pulling offence in the 1-1 draw at Pittodrie against the Light Blues last month only added to the unhappiness in the Dons camp.
But the Aberdeen manager said: “I have to leave it all to everybody else to decide but I can’t say anything.
“I don’t like to use excuses either.
“There are things we should have done better in the final and I know that. That is something we need to improve as a team.
“We want to go to finals and go down there and win them. I can’t comment on decisions VAR and referees are making.”
Reflections on Hampden loss
The Dons boss drew criticism from supporters on social media following his post-match press conference where he said: “We have no right as Aberdeen to come down here and run the whole game. That’s a proper team we’re playing against.”
When asked about the reaction from supporters Robson said: “On reflection for me, it was straight after the game.
“When I have watched back the game there were things we could have done better. There were also things we did really well.
“There wasn’t much in the game. I was just really disappointed because I wanted to win it for the fans.
“They gave us great support and that was my frustration. They have been great for us.
“We had a good record against Rangers. We tried to go after them as much as we could and that is my frustration.
“I thought structurally we were good and could have threatened their goal a bit more.
“We forced them to go a lot longer than they usually go and we just fell a bit short on the day and that is the frustration.”
Response needed against Livingston
Aberdeen return to league duty on Wednesday when Livingston visit Pittodrie and the Dons manager is determined to move on from Hampden.
Robson said: “I am an admirer of Davie (Martindale). He has done a great job down there. He always has them well-organised and in the fight.
“They make the game difficult for us. It will be a hard game. We need to try to bring as much speed and energy to the game as we can.”
Dons captain Graeme Shinnie called on his players to lift themselves following their cup final defeat and Robson insists his skipper will play a key role in the weeks ahead.
On Shinnie’s contribution Robson said: “He is so important. He is an Aberdeen boy and he loves the club. There is so much more to him.
“He always gives his all and leads by example. He is a proper captain and he is one who can drive us on.
“Shinnie maybe doesn’t have the same qualities at Clarkson, Bojan (Miovski) and Duk but he does all the other stuff behind, which is so important for us.
“He is still a really fit boy, you can see that from his numbers and I am glad he is here at Aberdeen.”
Jack MacKenzie returns to the squad but Slobodan Rubezic is suspended.
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