Rangers pair John Lundstram and Alfredo Morelos are both free to face Old Firm rivals Celtic after they were sent off in the weekend’s 2-2 draw with Hibs.
Despite both players being set to serve two-match suspensions, red cards in the Scottish Premiership are cross-competition meaning that players can serve suspensions in the League and Scottish Cups.
Whilst it cannot be confirmed until after the referee’s report, the offences in question appear to be serious foul play (Lundstram) and violent conduct (Morelos) with both constituting two match bans [SFA].
Unless Rangers appeal the red cards, then both John Lundstram and Alfredo Morelos will miss next week’s visit of Ross County and the League Cup clash with Queen of the South at Ibrox.
Rangers will have Lundstram and Morelos for Celtic trip
The Gers were left reeling following two controversial red cards to firstly Scouse midfielder Lundstram and then Colombian firebrand Morelos.
Willie Collum’s decision to send John Lundstram off for cynically challenging Martin Boyle has been met with a barrage of criticism and it’s clear this was a mistake from the card-happy whistler.
Especially considering Collum had set a precedent earlier in the match for a similar incident on John Lundstram in the first half, for which Jake Doyle-Hayes was shown a yellow.
It’s led to accusations Rangers were refereed to a different standard in the match and when you see replays, it’s hard to objectively argue against this.
Alfredo Morelos’ red card however is clearer cut and whether you think the Colombian’s flailing arm was enough to merit a sending off the striker gave Collum a decision to make.
It was the second time Morelos had a flick out at Marijan Cabraja and anyone who believes Rangers will appeal this is deluding themselves.
With ten men on the park, there was a feeling Rangers might hold on but the Colombian let everyone down by walking off the park and Hibs inevitably equalised.
The result means that Rangers have blinked first in the title race and whilst there is a long way to go there’s a feeling that things haven’t quite started to click yet at Ibrox.
But do the Rangers board need to shoulder some responsibility for not giving the club the right backing when we had the chance to assert our dominance?