Luton boss finds it 'strange' that VAR won't be used in FA Cup replay at Bolton

Luton boss Rob Edwards couldn’t understand why there will be no VAR in use during the Hatters’ FA Cup third round replay at Bolton Wanderers later this month.

The technology was available at Kenilworth Road yesterday, although it didn’t help Town get the result they were after when in the closing stages, Alfie Doughty was brought down inside the area by Trotters defender Will Forrester, the officials in Stockley Park somehow deeming that the incident wasn't a foul, as the scores remained goalless, a decision Edwards felt was ‘a mistake’. Now when the two sides do it all again in around 10 days time at the Toughsheet Stadium, it won’t be available to the referee appointed, as it can only be used in Premier League stadiums due to licensing rules.

Asked about that in his post match press conference, Edwards said: “It is strange and I don't know what to say on that. We’ve got it here today and maybe it makes it just fair for that actual game between the two teams, but then there’s going to be other teams who are going to fall foul of not having it and I do find that quite strange.”

Meanwhile, Trotters boss Ian Evatt, a former team-mate of Edwards at Blackpool, went even further stating that with VAR not going anywhere in the near future, it should be installed in all four tiers of English football. He added: “I’d like to see it applied consistently. The Premier League isn’t more important than the Championship, League One or League Two, so there should be a level of consistency whether we all have it, or we don’t.

“For instance, we’re not going to have it in the replay, but the first game, the big decision in the game was a VAR decision. What happens in the replay if we get a penalty that wasn’t and Rob will be begging for VAR? So there has to be a level of consistency where it’s applied to everybody. I could go on a big rant about this as I’ve been banging the drum for ages. It should be consistency, it has to be throughout the levels, it has to be in every competition if you're using it in a competition.”