Rangers coach believes referee made right call on Kemar Roofe's tackle

Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister has backed referee David Munro for taking the circumstances of the incident into account when he booked Kemar Roofe for a late challenge on St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson at Ibrox.
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Roofe was booked for the foul which saw Davidson sustain an injury which Saints boss Callum Davidson fears could rule him out of the League Cup Final against Livingston later this month.

Ianis Hagi’s 52nd-minute goal earned Rangers a 1-0 win which restores their 23-point lead over Celtic at the top of the Premiership table and McAllister played down suggestions Roofe had been fortunate not to be shown a straight red card.

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“I thought the referee had a good view of the situation,” said McAllister.

Rangers forward Kemar Roofe is booked by referee David Munro for a foul on St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson at Ibrox.Rangers forward Kemar Roofe is booked by referee David Munro for a foul on St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson at Ibrox.
Rangers forward Kemar Roofe is booked by referee David Munro for a foul on St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson at Ibrox.

“Taking into account the player, knowing the player and the type of player that he is, I think the referee saw it as a yellow. He [Roofe] mis-controlled it, tried to retrieve it and the referee has seen it as a yellow.”

It was Steven Gerrard’s 100th victory as Rangers manager as his team close in on his first piece of major silverware since he took charge in the summer of 2018.

“We are getting close to loads of records and the stats and the win percentage, I don’t need to tell you, is very high,” said McAllister.

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“It shows the level of job that he has produced here, but he will say and I will say and the players will say that it has been about everybody. It is not just about Steven and he won’t be taking the acclaim for that. It is a whole team effort and it is credit to everyone that has been on this journey.

“In periods of the game tonight we played some good stuff and created good chances but we weren’t as clinical as we like to be.

“You can see the reasons why St Johnstone are on a good run and are in a cup final. They are very well drilled, their organisation is excellent and come the end of the game they threw some forwards at it to try and get a result.

“It was tough but I thought we edged it and it was a special goal to separate the two teams. I thought Ianis was excellent on the night.”

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