Lyall Cameron insists Dundee 'not shifting blame' with fresh VAR complaints
Lyall Cameron has voiced Dundee's frustrations over their latest VAR controversy – but accepts they have been the architects of their own downfall this season.
The 3-2 defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park leaves the Dens Park men still battling for their Premiership survival.
One win at home to Ross County on Wednesday guarantees safety but defeat means all scenarios could still be in play next Sunday away to bottom side St Johnstone.
Despite the lingering worries over dropping into the Championship, the post-match chat centred on another contentious moment involving Tony Docherty's side.
A farcical delay over the check for a possible penalty for the Dark Blues saw referee Don Robertson brought to the pitch-side monitor but then not shown any images.
Confusion reigned post-match. Had VAR official Gavin Duncan decided the incident was outside the box or was there an issue with the screen?
'It's hard for me to say because I didn't see it very well,' said Cameron of Muray's clash with Kyle Vassell. 'But Si [Murray] was adamant that it was inside the box.
'At the time, I found it strange because Don Robertson was standing over the VAR for so long. It's not his fault at the end of the day, he gets what he works with.
'But I believe they couldn't overturn the decision because the VAR wasn't working,
'You can laugh about it. But, at the end of the day, when you're in the position that we're in, it's not actually a joke. It's just the last thing you need.
'We're fighting for everything to try and stay up and things not going your way like that, it's just so frustrating.
'It's the basics at the end of the day. We bring VAR in, the least you expect is that it works.
'In our position, we can't have things like that going against us. At the end of the day, we're running out of time,.
'People can say, 'ah, VAR messed up' and it's a joke at the end of the day. But it's people's livelihoods. It's just so frustrating.'
When Robertson was called to the monitor 20 minutes into the second-half, the game was finely poised with Killie a goal to the good following Danny Armstrong's 31st-minute penalty.
Cameron subsequently levelled things up in the 76th minute when he finished off a smart move involving substitutes Fin Robertson and Seun Adewumi.
But that is when Dundee's defensive weaknesses reared their ugly head yet again.
Within seconds, Bruce Anderson was allowed space to head in Liam Donnelly's cross and then Robbie Deas nodded in Armstrong's corner in the first minute of injury-time.
Cameron's second of the game four minutes later sparked hope but the attempted comeback fell short in another five minutes of stoppage time.
'Don't get me wrong, we concede too many goals,' added Cameron. 'So, we're not shifting blame because we know we need to address that and be better at that; we've done that all season.
'Obviously, it's not where we want to be. We want to be far out of this situation.
'Our initial goal in the season was top-six and I think we've shown we were capable [of that]. Going forward, we've scored so many goals.
'But we just concede so many goals and it's so frustrating that you score two or three goals and you either draw or lose the game.
'It's not sustainable. We just concede too many goals and that's why we are where we are.'
Now they are in their current predicament, their route to safety is clear. Win on Wednesday against County, who are two points below, and that is that.
However, a defeat, coupled with a win for St Johnstone away against Hearts, would leave automatic relegation still in play for an anxiety-laden clash with Saints at McDiarmid Park next Sunday.
'It's a big enough game anyway and, look, we don't want to be the team who feels hard done by all the time,' admitted Cameron when asked about a sense of injustice.
'But, at some point our luck needs to change and, hopefully, that's in the next two games.
'Thankfully, results probably went in our favour. It's still in our hands, we just need to go and beat Ross County at home.'
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