Walter Smith has urged Kyle Lafferty to clean up his act after his red card against Hibernian.
Boss hopes fiery striker can put red card behind him
Rangers boss Walter Smith was critical of Kyle Lafferty for his red card against Hibernian and has urged the striker to clean up his act.
Lafferty clashed with Kevin McBride during a fiery encounter at Easter Road in which both players were dismissed during a 3-0 win for Rangers.
Lafferty, who has been no stranger to controversy since his move to Ibrox, reacted angrily to McBride booting the ball against him after the Northern Ireland international had fouled Liam Miller.
The confrontation sparked a mass melee and, since disciplinary issues have dogged the striker in the past, Smith has called on his player to curb his enthusiasm.
"I suppose this is the best time to get red and yellow cards when they are all fit but we don't want him to get sent off at any time of the season," said Smith.
"Kyle has had a couple of things happen to him now and he is going to have to adjust and discipline himself a little better than he has done in the past.
"I didn't think there was that much in the incident, I think he was sent off for his reaction after the ball was kicked against him.
"I suppose in many ways that's natural but you couldn't blame the referee either. It was unfortunate but these things happen.
"It was a competitive game, it was a game that we actually needed to kick start our season and that was an unfortunate happening within the game."
Decision
Smith quashed suggestions Lafferty's red card was shown for his late lunge on Miller, which sparked the nasty scenes as Hibs players leapt to the defence of their team-mate.
"There was no challenge, he missed the boy, he stepped over the top of him. It was his reaction after the ball was kicked, that's why he was sent off," said Smith.
"He didn't make contact with the boy at all. When he fell down afterwards, the lad kicked the ball against him.
"It was his over-reaction to being hit with the ball, that was why he was sent off and I can't blame the referee for that.
"That's what he's got to watch more than anything else but you've also got to look at the situation where the ball was blasted right at him.
"If you're going to criticise Lafferty, you've got to criticise the other lad for kicking the ball at him"
