diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index e8a4e6b71bedf09fc8698c29284df058b6ac5e8b..b6e81543f7a3a86729eb8267696ac7b869355551 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-329
\ No newline at end of file
+330
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/+artoa/+controller/+track/+parameter/validateCombinationsInput.m b/lib/+artoa/+controller/+track/+parameter/validateCombinationsInput.m
index a2ad31a63f6042637861c86b450f965517d60be0..4c2b674717e83d461491e4b1e3fa797cfdb4c6c2 100644
--- a/lib/+artoa/+controller/+track/+parameter/validateCombinationsInput.m
+++ b/lib/+artoa/+controller/+track/+parameter/validateCombinationsInput.m
@@ -29,12 +29,16 @@ if any(isempty(pCombinationsTable.trackingMethod)) ...
     return;
 end
 
-if any(cellfun(@(x) length(strsplit(x)), pCombinationsTable.referencePosition) ~= 2)
+referenceStart = cellfun(@(x) strsplit(x), pCombinationsTable.referencePosition, 'UniformOutput', false);
+referenceStart = cell2mat(cellfun(@(x) str2double(x), referenceStart, 'UniformOutput', false));
+if any(length(referenceStart) ~= 2) || any(isnan(referenceStart))
     message = '(Reference) Position START column contains at least one error. Please double check this column.';
     return;
 end
 
-if any(cellfun(@(x) length(strsplit(x)), pCombinationsTable.referencePositionEnd) ~= 2)
+referenceEnd = cellfun(@(x) strsplit(x), pCombinationsTable.referencePositionEnd, 'UniformOutput', false);
+referenceEnd = cell2mat(cellfun(@(x) str2double(x), referenceEnd, 'UniformOutput', false));
+if any(length(referenceEnd) ~= 2) || any(isnan(referenceEnd))
     message = '(Reference) Position END column contains at least one error. Please double check this column.';
     return;
 end