Rangers likely to appeal McCulloch ban

Rangers boss Ally McCoist said the club is likely to challenge the red card handed to Lee McCulloch in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to St Mirren.

Rangers took the lead through a Lee Wallace goal after only 11 minutes of action in Paisley, but the game turned 13 minutes later when McCulloch was shown a straight red card for an elbow on Saints midfielder Graham Carey.

To cap a dismal afternoon for Rangers, the Scottish champions finished the match with nine men when Dorin Goian was sent off late for a second caution, as Celtic trimmed their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to one point with a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock.

With both McCulloch and Goian set to miss Wednesday’s crunch game with Celtic at Parkhead, McCoist gave a strong indication he would appeal the midfielder’s ban.

“We will have a look at it again and decide whether we are going to appeal,” McCoist told the BBC.

“I’ll have a chat with Lee but it’s a distinct possibility.”

“There is no doubt it changed the game,” he said. “The ball actually went into the back of the net as well, which a lot of people maybe forget, so it might have been 2-0.”

“I’ve seen it once and I would have to say it was extremely harsh.”

“I’ve had a good chat with Lee McCulloch and he assures me there was no malice at all and he was just trying to fend the boy off. The boy actually had an arm around his waist.”

“I’m a wee bit disappointed with how the boy went down to be honest with you and no physio came on to my knowledge.”

“It changed the game, there is no doubt about it, and we are disappointed with it.”