Boss Philippe Clement claimed Ross McCausland was “kicked off the pitch” in the 2-1 defeat by Motherwell which dented Rangers’ cinch Premiership title hopes.
With the visitors leading through a Theo Bair strike, the Northern Ireland winger had to be replaced by Fabio Silva in the 35th minute after he was caught by Dan Casey after the Fir Park defender won a tackle.
Gers skipper James Tavernier scored from the spot on the hour but Casey’s 74th-minute header gave the Steelmen their first league win at Ibrox since 1997.
It was a first defeat in 12 games for Rangers and although they remain two points clear of Celtic at the top of the table, the Parkhead side get the chance to leapfrog them at Hearts on Sunday.
Clement confirmed beforehand that Oscar Cortes, on loan from Lens, would be out for “a long time” following the muscle injury picked up against Kilmarnock in midweek, with fellow wide-men Abdallah Sima and Rabbi Matondo also out.
The Gers boss said: “Ross is bad because he was kicked off the pitch. There was no foul, no yellow card, no red card.
“When I see how we’ve got red cards in the last few months – then I see this action – I don’t understand it to be honest.
“There is too much intensity. When you have to take a player off in the first-half because he can’t walk any more after contact, you need to realise something bad happened there. But clearly not.
“I didn’t think about the fact the same player scored the winning goal.
“I only think about the chances we had to score. I only think about my team and making it better.”
The Belgian boss would not directly say that Casey should have been red carded by referee Alan Muir, adding: “I am not a referee. And I know every word I say becomes a big thing always.
“I think players need to be better protected. We have now already several players kicked off the pitch this season. I think they need to be protected in a better way.”
It was the first points dropped at home by Clement since taking over from Michael Beale in October and he is expecting a positive reaction.
He said: “That’s the interesting thing now. I didn’t expect to have this moment after five months in the building. I thought it would be much earlier.
“Now I’ll get to know my team even better. I know them really well already. But now I’m going to see who’s going to be the guys to stand up after a disappointment.
“I don’t doubt it too much. They are very disappointed and a lot of heads are down. I’m disappointed too, not to get the three points.
“But you need to cope with it, take the right lessons and learn from it to become better. That’s our ambition now.”
Stuart Kettlewell was delighted with Motherwell’s performance but puzzled by Clement’s assessment of McCausland.
He said: “Everybody has got their own opinion. I don’t see it as kicked off the pitch as such.
“I’ve not seen a replay of the incident but at the time it was very close to me and Dan Casey looked 60-40 favourite, or maybe even more than that, to come through and get the ball.
“At the time I wasn’t seeing anything. The referee doesn’t even book him so it doesn’t look as if there was a foul. He was first man to the ball clearly so I’m a wee bit surprised [by Clement’s comments].”
On his side’s shock victory, the Well boss said: “We were asked plenty of questions, we were put under the cosh.
“We had to go into what I call emergency defending in the dying embers. We know that you are going to have to go through all that to get something here – you are going to have to suffer. Of that there is no question.
“When you come here that idea of just sitting in is never going to work. You need to carry a threat on the other side. That is what pleases me most.”
Dream debut: Dixon shines with goal, assist on debut for Charlton U21s in 3-2 win over Watford
Reggae Boy Kaheim Dixon was on the scoresheet in his debut for Charlton Athletic U21s in a 3-2 win over Watford at Vicarage Road on Friday.
Charlton took the lead after just two minutes through a goal from Henry Rylah before Watford got their equalizer through Mamadou Doumbia a minute later.
The 19-year-old Dixon, who joined the League One club from Arnett Gardens in August, then capitalized from a defensive mistake by Watford to put his team up 2-1.
Charlton then went two goals clear thanks to Mile Leaburn, who was assisted by Dixon.
Doumbia got his second goal of the game to finish the scoring at 3-2.
Charlton U21s now have 19 points in seven games in the Professional Development League.
The win strengthens lead atop the table to six points.
They will next take on Brentford U21s on October 1.
Alcaraz beaten on Laver Cup debut with Zverev in doubles
Carlos Alcaraz suffered defeat on his Laver Cup debut, as he was beaten in straight sets alongside Alexander Zverev in doubles by Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
Team Europe put up a strong fight but struggled to match Fritz and Shelton, who won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev made a slow start to the match, losing their serve in the fourth game as the Americans went on a three-game winning streak, but they pulled it back to level the tie, only to lose the tie-break.
Team Europe looked to have found their groove in the second set but failed to convert four break points in the fourth game as Fritz and Shelton levelled the score at 2-2.
A three-game winning run at the end of the set, including one more break, was enough to get Team World over the line, pulling them back to 2-2 at the end of day one.
Francisco Cerundolo had originally given Team World the lead with a shock win over Casper Ruud before Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov's wins had put Team Europe 2-1 up.
Walter proud of 'courageous' Hull after comeback win
Tim Walter says he is proud of his "courageous" Hull City side after earning his first win in charge, beating Stoke City 3-1.
Narcis Pelach led the Potters out for the first time on Friday and saw his side take a 1-0 lead through Ben Wilmot into half-time.
However, Hull came out fighting in the second half to claim three points for the first time this season.
Kasey Palmer saw a penalty saved just after the hour mark but turned in the rebound before goals from Regan Slater and an own goal from Wilmot completed their late turnaround.
It is a win that propels the Tigers from 19th to 13th in the Championship, above Stoke, and Walter believes it has been a long time coming.
"It's hard to describe because I never had this feeling before. I've never not had a win in five games, so for me, it's a new situation," Walter told Sky Sports.
"But I also knew the whole time that we can win. Today we did it and that's the reason I'm really proud of my boys. They deserved to win.
"I'm happy because they always believed they can win and that's important.
"After conceding the goal, we were better. We were more courageous. We showed more bravery and that's the key to the result."
Pelach succeeded Steven Schumacher as Stoke's manager following his shock sacking earlier this week, having won two of the five matches under the Englishman at the start of the season.
Stoke managed 14 shots against Hull, but only two efforts on target, with both of those coming in the first 45 minutes.
Despite starting with a defeat, Pelach is looking for the positives after such a short time with the squad.
"It's a pity we couldn't win the game," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.
"We wanted to take the points, but I think the lads tried to put a new style of play in place.
"But in the second half, we lost control and ran out of energy. We should have pressed more, but we will try to explain this tomorrow and keep working on the defensive style.
"There is some things to work on mentally and we will do it. We will take the positives, and we will improve."
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