Rangers: Steven Gerrard ‘surprise’ at Steve Clarke ban comments over Jermain Defoe

Clarke, one of Gerrard’s former coaches at Liverpool, declared he was looking for the Scottish Football Association compliance officer to show consistency and deliver the same punishment for Defoe for an alleged penalty-box dive as Jordan Jones received earlier in the season.

Gerrard said: “I was very surprised by Steve’s comments, first and foremost because it’s got absolutely nothing to do with Steve Clarke or Kilmarnock. We didn’t punish Jordan Jones, we didn’t give the Kilmarnock player a two-game ban, so why he’s trying to get one of my players banned, is a surprise and a disappointment.

“Because that’s not the type of guy I know Steve Clarke for. He is usually first class, the dealings I had with him as a player when he used to coach me, and since I’ve been at Rangers. So very surprised by his comments and I don’t think there’s any need for them at all.”

Gerrard does not expect Defoe to face any retrospective action related to the penalty he won during Saturday’s 4-0 win over St Mirren and claimed there was no comparison with the earlier incident involving Jones, who has signed a pre-contract with Rangers.

“The two situations are completely different,” he said. “Jordan Jones was a yard away from the opponent, dives and buries his head in shame on the turf because he’s embarrassed over it.

“There is small contact on Jermain. None of my players appealed for the penalty, none of my players gave the penalty, so why should Jermain Defoe be banned? The referee made the decision, nothing to do with Rangers, nothing to do with the Rangers players. Jermain tried to bounce back up, didn’t appeal for a penalty.”

Defoe will not face any retrospective action over the incident, which saw him go down as Paul McGinn stuck out a leg and then pulled it back.

The SFA confirmed that the 3pm Tuesday deadline for fast-track notices of complaint had passed without any being issued by compliance officer Clare Whyte.

Whyte would have needed a unanimous verdict from three former match officials to take forward a case against any player.