Kai Fotheringham was given his marching orders after VAR deemed his tackle on Nico Raskin worthy of a sending off

Rangers romped to a 4-0 victory over St Johnstone at Ibrox on Saturday to move back to within two points of Premiership leaders Celtic.

But while big money signing Kevin Kelsy grabbed all the headlines for scoring a brace - with Ryan Naderi and Tochi Chukwuani netting the other goals - two pundts are convinced that the visitors were highly unfortunate to go down to 10 men for the final 16 minutes of play.

The Light Blues were already three goals up when Kai Fotheringham was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Nico Raskin. On-field referee Chris Graham initially allowed the play to go on but was then recommended by VAR to consult the monitor for a potential sending off, and after a considerable delay then gave the 23-year-old his marching orders.

After the match, McDiarmid Park boss Simo Valakari said he had no complaints with the decision but speaking on BBC Sportscene, Scotland hero James McFadden agreed with host Steven Thompson that the decision to send the player off was wrong.

He said: "I really feel for him. I can understand that when you see the point of contact, it doesn't look great.

"(But) I don't think there was an enormous amount of force in it. He goes to crowd, wins the ball and catches Raskin on the follow-through above the ankle which you would normally say is an easy red card.

"Chris Graham is sent by Andrew Dallas to go to VAR and he takes a while to get to the decision. He can see the initial slide, the contact and the force on the follow through. I don't know why he is taking so long and it tells me he was conflicted."

"Is it endangering an opponent or an excessive force of brutality? I don't think it is. When you the still (image) it doesn't look great but I do feel for him."

Fellow ex pro Thompson added: "For me there is no endangering a player there or any malice in the tackle."

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