Alex Cochrane opens up on Hearts double VAR red and reveals he watched Hibs derby on his phone in dressing room

Alex Cochrane was convinced VAR had it in for him when he saw red twice in the last three matches of last season.

The Hearts defender revealed he had to watch the final 60 minutes of the explosive Edinburgh derby on his phone in the dressing room after being sent packing following a video check. That came just a week after he’d returned from suspension for being controversially red carded after a VAR check against Celtic. But even though he will miss the first three games of the new campaign due to the double video nasty Cochrane still admits he’s a fan of the technology.

The left back was sent packing by Nick Walsh moments before half time in the 2-0 defeat to Celtic at Tynecastle as the Hoops secured the title. Walsh initially flashed yellow at the Jambo for catching Daizen Maeda as he raced into the box but after Willie Collum watched it back in VAR HQ the ref changed the card to a red.

That swung the game in the Hoops favour but the decision was slaughtered by pundits with Michael Stewart slamming it as “utter nonsense” and Chris Sutton claiming “Willie Collum in the VAR hut has pooped it”.

It got even worse on the final day of the season when Cochrane was sent off by Don Robertson in the 29th minute against Hibs after catching Chris Cadden just outside the box. Robertson had initially booked the Englishman and awarded a penalty before overturning both decisions having been sent to the monitor by video assistant Greg Aitken as Hearts clung onto fourth place with a 1-1 draw.

It could all have left Cochrane feeling like the tech is a serious pain in the VARS - especially as it took his red card tally to three for the season having previously never been sent off in his pro career. But as Hearts bring their warm-weather